Alva Kelley
Alva Kelley went 40–57–2 as a head coach in the games on file: 1951 at Brown, 1952 at Brown, 1953 at Brown, 1954 at Brown, 1955 at Brown, 1956 at Brown, 1957 at Brown, 1958 at Brown, 1959 at Colgate, 1960 at Colgate and 1961 at Colgate. His full head-coaching career isn’t in our records. Share
- Record
- 40–57–2 games on file
- Seasons
- 11
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1954 6–2–1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Brown | 2–7 | ||
| 1952 | Brown | 2–7 | ||
| 1953 | Brown | 3–5–1 | ||
| 1954 | Brown | 6–2–1 | ||
| 1955 | Brown | 2–7 | ||
| 1956 | Brown | 5–4 | ||
| 1957 | Brown | 5–4 | ||
| 1958 | Brown | 6–3 | ||
| 1959 | Colgate | 2–7 | ||
| 1960 | Colgate | 2–7 | ||
| 1961 | Colgate | 5–4 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 14 | 6–8 | 43% |
| Conference games | 21 | 10–11 | 48% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 45 | 18–25–2 | 42% |
| At home | 46 | 23–22–1 | 51% |
| On the road | 53 | 17–35–1 | 33% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 40 | 23–17 | 57% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 59 | 17–40–2 | 31% |
His own 99 games on file, 1951–1961, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Olivar 1952–1961 | 3–7 | Yale | 10 | |
| Lloyd Jordan 1951–1956 | 3–2–1 | Harvard | 6 | |
| George James 1955–1960 | 3–3 | Cornell | 6 | |
| Charles Caldwell 1951–1956 | 1–5 | Princeton | 6 | |
| Lou Little 1951–1956 | 2–3 | Columbia | 5 | |
| Hal Lahar 1952–1956 | 2–2–1 | Colgate | 5 | |
| Richard Colman 1957–1961 | 1–4 | Princeton | 5 | |
| Edward Anderson 1951–1959 | 1–3 | Holy Cross | 4 | |
| Harvey Harman 1951–1955 | 1–3 | Rutgers | 4 | |
| Bob Blackman 1955–1958 | 1–3 | Dartmouth | 4 |
Alva Kelley’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Yaleseries | 11 | 4–7 |
| Princetonseries | 11 | 2–9 |
| Harvardseries | 9 | 6–2–1 |
| Rhode Islandseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| Colgateseries | 8 | 4–3–1 |
| Columbiaseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Cornellseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Rutgersseries | 7 | 1–6 |
Coaching tree
Assistants who became head coaches
- Joseph ResticHarvard, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Restic | Brown, 1956–58: assistant coach; Colgate, 1959–61: assistant coach | Harvard, Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.