Thomas Kelley (born c. 1888) was an American
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 ...
player and coach,
college basketball coach, and athletics administartor. He served as the head football coach at
Muhlenberg College from 1911t o 1913, the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy—now known as the
Missouri University of Science and Technology—in 1914, the
University of Alabama from 1915 to 1917, the
University of Idaho from 1920 to 1921, and the
University of Missouri in 1922, compiling a career college football head coaching coaching record of Kelley was also the head basketball coach at Muhlenberg from 1912 to 1914 and Alabama for the 1916–17 season, tallying a career college basketball record of In addition, he served as the
athletic director at Alabama in 1915 and Idaho from 1920 to 1922.
Playing career
Kelley 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 ...
at the
University of Chicago as a
tackle for the
Maroons under head coach
Amos Alonzo Stagg.
Coaching career
In
1915 at Alabama, Kelley coached only the first half of season (4–0) before he came down with
typhoid fever.
Athletic director B. L. Noojin
Balpha Lonnie Noojin (August 10, 1885 – September 7, 1950) was an American sports coach, educator, politician, and businessman. Noojin completed his education at the University of Alabama, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1908. At Alabama, ...
and former Alabama
quarterback Farley Moody
Farley William Moody (September 18, 1891 – October 11, 1918) was an American college football player and a lawyer.
Early years
Farley Moody was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on September 18, 1891, to Frank Sims Moody and Mary Farley Maxwell.
U ...
took over the head coaching duties for the remaining four games of the season.
[Groom 2000, p. 26.] The 2–2 mark achieved in Kelly's absence is still credited to his record at Alabama
Kelley served in the
U.S. Army in
World War I and returned to coaching as an assistant at Missouri in 1919.
He moved west in March
1920
Events January
* January 1
** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.
** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...
and accepted the dual position of athletic director and head football coach at
Idaho;
under his leadership the
Vandals were admitted to the
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...
In addition to his duties at the university, he was also the state's
boxing commissioner.
After two years in
Moscow,
Kelley accepted the position of head football coach at Missouri in June 1922 at a salary of
$4,500 per year,
[ but resigned prior to the completion of his first season.]
Head coaching record
Football
References
Sources
* Groom, Winston. ''The Crimson Tide – An Illustrated History''. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2000. -.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Thomas
1880s births
Year of death missing
American football tackles
Alabama Crimson Tide athletic directors
Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches
Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball coaches
Chicago Maroons football players
Idaho Vandals athletic directors
Idaho Vandals football coaches
Missouri Tigers football coaches
Missouri S&T Miners football coaches
Muhlenberg Mules football coaches
Muhlenberg Mules men's basketball coaches
United States Army personnel of World War I