Michael Kelly is an American college athletics administrator. He is currently the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

, a position he has held since 2018, as well as a member of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I Council since 2021. Prior to becoming the AD at USF, Kelly served in many high level positions throughout college athletics, including as associate commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Chief Operating Officer for the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

. He is the first person to serve as the president of the Super Bowl host committee for three different communities, doing so for

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

in Tampa, Super Bowl XXXIX in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, and Super Bowl XLI in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. He was also the executive director for the organizing committee for the 1999 Men's Final Four, which was held in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Early life and education

Kelly was born on July 20, 1970 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and attended St. John's College High School, where he is today a member of the Board of Trustees. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

to earn his bachelors degree in politics in 1992, and earned his master's in sports administration from St. Thomas University in Miami in 1994. While attending St. Thomas in 1993, Kelly served as an intern for the then-

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

during their inaugural season.

Career

Kelly played an instrumental role in securing the

Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the Unite ...

as hosts for the 1999 Men's Final Four at

Tropicana Field Tropicana Field (commonly known as the Trop) is a multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The stadium has been the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) since the team's inaugural sea ...

in St. Petersburg and for

Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The s ...

in Tampa. He was the executive director of the 1999 Final Four Organizing Committee and president of the Super Bowl XXXV Host Committee. He would later also serve as the president of the host committees for Super Bowl XXXIX and Super Bowl XLI. From 2007-2012 he served as Sr. Associate Commissioner at the Atlantic Coast Conference where he oversaw football, communications and broadcasting. In June 2001, five months after the successful Super Bowl XXXV, Kelly was appointed as Associate Athletic Director at the

in Tampa. He left after one year to become the Director of Athletic Facilities and Athletic Operations at his alma mater of Wake Forest. In 2006, Kelly left Wake Forest to become the Senior Associate Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. While there, he oversaw football broadcasting and communications. In 2012, Kelly became the first Chief Operating Officer of the

. In 2018, Kelly took the job as Vice President of Athletics at the

. In addition to being the athletic director at USF, Kelly serves as Vice Chair of the NCAA's Championships Oversight Committee, the President's Board of Advisors for St. Thomas University, and the Board of Trustees for St. John's College High School.

Personal life

Kelly and his wife Lisa have two daughters, Cara and Seana.

Honors

In 2006, Kelly was named to Sports Business Journal's 40 under 40 list and was presented with the St. Thomas University Distinguished Alumnus Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Michael 1970 births Living people South Florida Bulls athletic directors