“Somebody said a couple weeks ago, ‘You know, you need to put HOF.’ I said, ‘Nah, I’m not going there.’ I tried it once, but I’m not comfortable doing it.”
But during the days in South Bend leading up to his Saturday enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame, Kelly was as much the center of attention as during any time in his coaching career.
With two days full of a golf outing, parade, autograph session, pep rally and fanfest, Kelly was among 20 enshrinees who were the focus of the city and the college football world. Hesitant about accepting praise during his 27 years coaching the Flyers from 1981-2007, Kelly could not avoid it.
“(Saturday morning) we got up, and there was an autograph session,” Kelly said before Saturday’s dinner and ceremony at the Century Center Convention Center. “I was with Bill Manlove (enshrinee and longtime coach from Widener, Delaware Valley and La Salle). We’re the little guys, the non-scholarship guys.
“We joked that we signed more footballs in an hour than we did in our careers.”
Laughing with Gruden
Saturday’s ceremony was broken into sections in which different groups of honorees went through a Q&A with hosts Charles Davis, a college football broadcaster, and Jon Gruden, the former NFL head coach who was a backup quarterback at Dayton from 1982-84.
Kelly sat between Gruden and Gene Stallings, the former Texas A&M and Alabama head coach. When it came time for Kelly’s remarks, Davis said to Gruden, “Now this is all yours.”
Gruden asked Kelly if he ever reflected on his statistical success (246-54-1 record). He referenced UD’s loss in the 1980 national championship game in Kelly’s first season and asked how that affected his coaching.
Before he answered, Kelly asked the crowd, “Would you like to hear a Jon Gruden story?”
Kelly said that Gruden came into his office during his junior season and asked to return kicks and punts, because he had done that well in high school.
Kelly said he asked Gruden, “Don’t you want to be a coach someday?” When Gruden said he did, Kelly asked if he would ever consider letting his backup quarterback return kicks with defenders sprinting at him.
“He scratched his chin,” Kelly said, “and he just turns around and walks out.”
As the crowd clapped, Gruden turned to Davis and said, “I can’t break this guy, go ahead.”
A busy weekend
There were other memories. Kelly and Manlove spent part of the weekend discussing Dayton and Widener meeting in the national semifinals in 1980, when Kelly was a Dayton assistant and Manlove was the Widener head coach. UD beat Widener and went on to win the national title.
The next year, Kelly’s first as head coach, UD met Widener in the national title game, and Manlove got the best of the Flyers and Kelly. Like many enshrinees, they shared old game stories all weekend.
Kelly picked up a few souvenirs to go with his memories this weekend, including his hall of fame blazer and ring. A few hours before the large dinner crowd watched him answer Gruden’s questions at the convention center, he looked down at the hall of fame logo on his jacket when asked what he would do with the material.
“There are a couple pieces in my office, but not much,” Kelly said. “I have a little office with very meaningful things up, most times pictures with student-athletes. Those are the things really important to me.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author
