Football coach who never punts reacts to Bill Belichick's departure from New England: 'He is the greatest coach in any sport'
The news of Bill Belichick’s departure from the New England Patriots impacted many nationwide Thursday.
New Sheridan (Arkansas) head football coach Kevin Kelley was among those who was emotional as the legendary Belichick joined Patriots owner Robert Kraft to announce a mutual split.
Kelley has been friends with Belichick for seven years and briefly worked on his staff in 2022 following a departure from a one-year stint at Presbyterian (S.C.) College.
“I just felt sadness," said Kelley, an Arkansas Sports Hall of Famer. “He is the greatest coach in any sport. To be able to win six Super Bowls and that many games when there are so many factors in the NFL like free agency and other things to keep teams from winning – that is impressive.
“For me to see behind the scenes how he did everything for the organization was really eye-opening. You could really see his brilliance. He is just great in all aspects. He had such a great run, and to see it end was just sadness.”
Kelley got acquainted with Belichick through a mutual party. He made seven trips to New England with his family to see the Patriots play and spent time with Belichick and his family and attended Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, where New England lost to Philadelphia. Kelley attended the Patriots' postgame party and wondered what the coach’s mood would be, but to his surprise, Belichick was upbeat and glad to see Kelley.
“He wasn’t like he was in the press conferences,” Kelley said. “He later told me why he acted that way in press conferences, and I understood. He is just a regular guy like us. He has TV shows and movies he likes, and he is a good person. That is what I want people to know — is he really just a normal guy. A good guy."
Belichick admired Kelley and his unorthodox philosophy of never punting and always onside kicking that he adopted at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, where he built a dynasty and finished 216-29-1 and won nine state championships, including six in seven years from 2014-20
Belichick referred to Kelley as “probably the top high school coach in the country.”
As successful as Belichick was in the NFL, he enjoyed picking Kelley’s brain and checked with him often during the season while his teams were battling for supremacy in Arkansas’ Class 5A.
“He’s come up and visited several times at the Patriots, and we’ve maintained a regular line of communication about football, about team building and so forth,” Belichick told the media via live video at Kelley’s Presbyterian introductory press conference in 2021. “I’m very close with his family and he with our family, so it has been on a number of levels.
“I’ve learned a lot from Coach Kelley and coached a couple of his players that were at Pulaski Academy, and I’ve learned a lot about the way he handled the team. They speak very highly of him and his team-building methods. He’s been a good friend and somebody who’s really helped my creative thinking.”
After a 2-9 season at Presbyterian in 2021, Kelley went to work for Belichick. He had already done some remote consulting for the coach but then actually moved to New England and worked on Belichick's offensive staff for three months until he felt the pull of home. Kelley’s daughter Kara was set to graduate from Pulaski Academy, and he didn’t want to miss it, so he informed Belichick that he was heading back to Arkansas. Kelley said Belichick wanted him to stay but understood his decision.
During that time in the Patriots coaching office, Kelley admired Belichick’s work ethic. Kelley coached a quarterback at Pulaski Academy named Layne Hatcher, who initially walked on at Alabama, who shared that same trait as Belichick.
“I told [Belichick], ‘You are the second-hardest worker I’ve seen behind Layne Hatcher,’” Kelley said. ‘You’re a hard worker, but I have Layne at No. 1.’”
If Kelley had stayed in New England, he’d most likely be out of a job Thursday. Instead, he was in the car Thursday afternoon on his way to work out with his new team – a program that hasn’t had much success that he is hoping to build.
“That [still working in New England] isn’t really something I think about because it doesn’t do any good to think about it,” Kelley said. “What I did think about was his two sons that are on the staff. Most of the time, a new coach isn’t going to retain any staff. They want to start clean with their own guys but if they promote Jerod Mayo (current Patriots staff member and former player) or hire Mike Vrabel (former New England player and Tennessee Titans head coach], they may be retained.”
Kelley said he had a feeling Thursday’s announcement was coming but thought maybe Kraft would just let Belichick coach and find a different general manager.
“[Kraft] said in the press conference he didn’t do that because when you take power away from someone, it isn’t the same,” Kelley said. “At PA, I was the coach and then I was the coach and AD and now I am just the coach. I am relieved to be the coach.
“Belichick handled all of those responsibilities so well for a long time, but it is just the end of an era.”
