Kellar leaves California for Lenoir-Rhyne
When Mike Kellar heard the football program at Lenoir-Rhyne needed a head coach, he sent out an email expressing interest but not expecting much to happen.
About two weeks later, Kellar was introduced as the Bears’ new head coach after agreeing to a four-year deal.
Kellar, 44, resigned as the Vulcans coach with six months left on his contract and takes over at Lenoir-Rhyne, also a Division II school, in Hickory, N.C., that competes in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bears’ previous head coach, Ian Shields, resigned at the end of the season and took a coaching position at Jacksonville University. In four seasons as Cal’s head coach, Kellar amassed a 31-12 record.
“I wasn’t actively looking,” Kellar said Tuesday morning. “You live in a coach’s life and every December coaching jobs are open, so you keep your ear to the ground. When Lenoir-Rhyne opened up, it was a job I thought I would be very interested in.”
Kellar spent 10 seasons in Cal’s system and was offensive coordinator from 2004-08. Kellar left Cal for two years to coach Concord (W.Va.) and compiled a 14-8 record. He returned to Cal and served as associate head coach for offense in 2011. It was his time at Concord that opened his eyes to Lenoir-Rhyne, which was on the schedule in both of Kellar’s seasons there.
“It was the best game-day atmosphere I’ve seen,” said Kellar. “I sent them an email … and they sent me one back. This all happened about a week and a half ago. I had a couple phone conversations, they brought me down for an interview last Thursday and … I got the job offer Monday. Very quick, and that’s the whirlwind of the coaching world.”
Kellar said the toughest part of taking the job was leaving Cal.
“I want to be very clear about how much I love the players,” said Kellar. “Those players are special to me, not just the ones here now but the ones who were here over my 10 years. I can’t say enough about the people I worked for and worked with. Leaving them is hard. It’s just part of this business. I left Cal to go to Concord. I left Concord to go back to Cal. It’s the life we chose to live as coaches.”
Like many Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools, cutbacks hit athletics hard. But Kellar said it was what Lenoir-Rhyne offered that made the difference. Cal had four full-time assistant coaches and no graduate assistants. At Lenoir-Rhyne, Kellar will have eight assistant coaches, four graduate assistant coaches and three student coaches on staff. Kellar also will have the maximum of 36 scholarships at Lenoir-Rhyne.
“Any time you can go to a fully funded program, especially one in the south where you compete for national championships, then you’re going to look at that situation,” Kellar said. “Lenoir-Rhyne is committed. They are a national program and winning and doing things the right way is as important to them as it is to me.”
Kellar produced at least seven wins each season at Cal and compiled a 20-9 record against PSAC teams.
“The hardest part is leaving this senior class,” Kellar said. “That whole crew was my first recruiting class at Cal. When you look back at all the things that happened at Cal with administrative turnover and everything, that group was one of the most successful groups of players that ever went through there. To leave that class was extremely hard for me to do and I am disappointed I won’t coach them through their senior year.”
A native of Shinnston, W.Va., Kellar was the starting quarterback at Glenville State under head coach Rich Rodriguez before transferring to Fairmont State. He earned his undergraduate degree in liberal arts in 1996 from FSU before receiving his master’s degree in safety management from West Virginia.
Kellar started his coaching career at Fairmont State, where he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for eight seasons. The Falcons won two WVIAC championships during his stay. He was offensive coordinator at Northern Michigan for two seasons before arriving at California.