Taylor Kelly is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He currently serves as the quarterbacks coach for Mater Dei High School. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Early years

Born and raised in

Eagle, Idaho Eagle is a city in Ada County, Idaho, 10 miles northwest of Boise. The population was 30,346 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water ...

, near

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...

, Kelly graduated from

Eagle High School Eagle High School (EHS) is a four-year public secondary school in Eagle, Idaho, USA, a suburb northwest of Boise. EHS opened in August 1995, the third of five traditional high schools in the West Ada School District. The school colors are hunt ...

in 2010. Regarded as the top senior football player in the state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

by ''

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

'', he was the only player from Idaho to sign an FBS letter of intent to attend a BCS conference university in 2010. He completed 119-of-192 passes (62.0-percent) for 1,800 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior in 2008 despite missing time due to an injury, and also carried 77 times for 423 yards (5.5 avg.) with five touchdowns that year. As a senior, he led Eagle High School to an 11–1 record in 2009 and the Class 5A State Championship, completing 182-of-265 passes (68.7 percent) for 2,509 yards and 22

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

in addition to 1,005 rushing yards on 156 carries (6.1 avg.) with 10 more scores. He threw for over 200 yards four times and rushed for over 100 yards in four games, and also added 35 tackles (29 solo) with 11 pass deflections, one fumble recovery and one blocked field goal. In the state championship game, he passed for 161 yards and a touchdown and had 103 rushing yards and two scores. Kelly also lettered in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

at Eagle High School. In 2010, he recorded personal-bests of 11.74 seconds (non-FAT) in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and 5.79 meters (or 19 ft) in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

at the JV Meet Boise, placing fourth and second, respectively. He was listed as the top

and No. 2 overall recruit in the state of

by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

''. He was rated the No. 84 quarterback prospect in the country by ''

''. He was also ranked as the top quarterback and the No. 4 overall prospect in Rocky Mountain States Postseason Top-10 by ''

''. He verbally committed to the Sun Devils on January 16, 2010.

College career

Kelly did not appear in any games in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, he was the backup to

Brock Osweiler Brock Alan Osweiler (born November 22, 1990) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Arizona State and was selected by the Denver Broncos in the s ...

and attempted four passes during the season, completing all of them for 31 yards. Kelly became the starter in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

as a redshirt sophomore, and finished the season 241 of 359 for 3,039 yards, 29

and nine

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, he finished the season with 3,635 yards, 28 passing touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. As a senior in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Kelly played in 10 games, missing three due to injury. He finished the year passing for 2,114 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Professional career

Following his time at Arizona State, Kelly was summarized by NFL scouts as an "average size and average talent." Kelly was not selected in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

, nor was he signed by any NFL team. He was invited and attended only one workout with the Arizona Cardinals, who opted to sign Phillip Sims over Kelly. Kelly served as a graduate assistant on the 2015 Arizona State Sun Devils football team. After the season, he moved to

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

and joined the staff at Edge Quarterback Training. He also coaches quarterbacks at Mater Dei High School.

References

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bioMater Dei High School bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Taylor 1991 births Living people People from Eagle, Idaho Players of American football from Idaho American football quarterbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches