Central Michigan University Athletics
Brian Kelly Makes Leap of Faith
9/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2004
By Matt Schoch
Sports Information Assistant
When the football coaching job opened at Central Michigan last winter, Brian Kelly knew the time was right to make the leap and become a Division I-A head coach.
"I saw a program that had a great need here for leadership and energy and a program that had great potential," he said. "I thought the timing was right relative to the situation here at CMU."
Kelly, 42, was a highly successful coach at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids for 13 seasons. He won more than three-fourths of his games as the Laker head coach and just finished a run of three consecutive Division II national championship game appearances, including two straight national titles.
However, it has been his recent battles off the field that may help him create a family atmosphere around CMU football.
During last season's championship run, his wife, Paqui, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since recovered, but dealing with the illness along with three young children allowed the Kellys to bond together through a tough time.
"We stayed together as a family and overcame a lot of distractions during the season that led to a championship," Brian said. "We've learned as a family how to deal with virtually anything that gets thrown our way. It made us all stronger."
Kelly is a native of Chelsea, Mass., and played his college football at Assumption (Mass.) College, collecting four varsity letters, two as a captain on the team.
"I was not very good, so I got into coaching," Kelly said. "However, I think I exhibited the traits that I ask for in our players and that is to play hard every day and to come to practice prepared to get better."
In college, Kelly's professional aspirations leaned more toward George Washington than George Halas. The political science major aspired to follow his father's footsteps (his father was an alderman) and hold local office.
However, he was hired in 1983 as a linebacker coach at Assumption, and he's been coaching ever since.
The Kellys moved to Mount Pleasant in the summer and Brian Kelly has already been surprised by the area. "The mountain isn't as big as I thought it would be," he joked.
More seriously, Kelly said Mount Pleasant is a friendly community, one that he said he is comfortable raising his kids: Patrick Liam (7), Grace Marie (4) and Kenzel Michael (3). The Kellys enjoy taking family vacations in their free time to places like amusement parks and beaches. When Brian needs to relax, he finds some solitude on the golf course, where he claims to be about a 13 handicap.
"Golf gives me the opportunity to relax and really to do my job," he said. "It allows me the chance to get out and interact with the people who will be a part of or influence our program."
He has been called to the Mid-American Conference to awake a sleeping giant at Central Michigan University. If he is successful at creating a family atmosphere that can withstand adversity like he has created in his home, the heartache that he has suffered from following his favorite professional sports team can be alleviated in Mount Pleasant.
"I'm a big Boston Red Sox fan," Kelly admitted. "And I don't believe in that curse."
