
Charles Kelly
Charles Kelly went 14–7 as a head coach, 2025–2026, at Jacksonville State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 4–2); by them his record is 13–7. Share
- Record
- 14–7 career
- Seasons
- 2
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Sep 8, 1967
- Alma mater
- Auburn
- Best season
- 2026 5–2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Jacksonville State | 9–5 | T–1st | Salute to Veterans Bowl W | ||
| 2026 | Jacksonville State | 5–2 (Wikipedia: 4–2) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against rivals | 4 | 3–1 | 75% |
| Conference games | 11 | 10–1 | 91% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 13 | 8–5 | 62% |
| At home | 10 | 9–1 | 90% |
| On the road | 9 | 3–6 | 33% |
| At neutral sites | 2 | 2–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 18 | 13–5 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
His own 21 games on file, 2025–2026, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Mack 2025–2026 | 2–1 | Kennesaw State | 3 |
Charles Kelly’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kennesaw Stateseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Middle Tennesseeseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Georgia Southernseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Florida Internationalseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Delawareseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Murray Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Western Kentuckyseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Eastern Kentuckyseries | 1 | 1–0 |
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Florida State’s 2013 staff (special teams coordinator, linebackers) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Alabama’s 2020 staff (associate defensive coordinator, safeties) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–92 | Central HS (AL) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1993 | Auburn | Graduate assistant | |
| 1994 | Jacksonville State | Running backs coach | |
| 1995 | Jacksonville State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1996 | Jacksonville State | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1997–98 | Jacksonville State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1999 | Henderson State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2000–01 | Eufaula HS (AL) high school | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2002–03 | Nicholls State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2004–05 | Nicholls State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2006–07 | Georgia Tech | Special teams coach | |
| 2008–09 | Georgia Tech | Cornerbacks coach | |
| 2010–12 | Georgia Tech | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2012 | Georgia Tech | Interim defensive coordinator | |
| 2013 | Florida State | Special teams and linebackers coach | |
| 2014–17 | Florida State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2018 | Tennessee | Special teams and safeties coach | |
| 2019–22 | Alabama | Assistant defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| 2023 | Colorado | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| 2024 | Auburn | Co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| 2025–present | Jacksonville State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Terry BowdenAuburn
- Patrick NixHenderson State
- Daryl DayeNicholls
- Jay ThomasNicholls
- Chan GaileyGeorgia Tech
- Jon TenutaGeorgia Tech
- Paul JohnsonGeorgia Tech
- Jimbo FisherFlorida State
- Odell HagginsFlorida State
- Jeremy PruittTennessee
- Nick SabanAlabama
- Deion SandersColorado
- and 1 more
Worked under (13)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Bowden | Auburn | 1993 | Graduate assistant | |
| Patrick Nix | Henderson State | 1999 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Daryl Daye | Nicholls | 2002–03 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Jay Thomas | Nicholls | 2004–05 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Chan Gailey | Georgia Tech | 2006–07 | Special teams coach | |
| Jon Tenuta | Georgia Tech | 2007 | Special teams coach | |
| Paul Johnson | Georgia Tech | 2008–12 | 2008–09: cornerbacks coach; 2010–12: defensive backs coach; 2012: interim defensive coordinator | |
| Jimbo Fisher | Florida State | 2013–17 | 2013: special teams and linebackers coach; 2014–17: defensive coordinator | |
| Odell Haggins | Florida State | 2017 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Jeremy Pruitt | Tennessee | 2018 | Special teams and safeties coach | |
| Nick Saban | Alabama | 2019–22 | Assistant defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Deion Sanders | Colorado | 2023 | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Hugh Freeze | Auburn | 2024 | Co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach |
Coached under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Williams | Jacksonville State, 2025–26: defensive coordinator | |
| Clint Trickett | Jacksonville State, 2025: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lawrence Dawsey | Jacksonville State, 2025–26: wide receivers coach | |
| Maxwell Thurmond | Jacksonville State, 2025–26: special teams and running backs coach | |
| Taylor Housewright | Jacksonville State, 2025: tight ends coach; 2026: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
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.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Florida State | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $150,500 | $858,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Florida State | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $146,333 | $833,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Florida State | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $90,833 | $583,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Florida State | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $90,833 | $500,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Kelly’s teams went for it on 27% of fourth downs and on 49% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 40% of plays and took 25.7 seconds a play, 2025–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 14 g | 29 of 115 25% | 47% | 36% | 25.4 | +0.07 | |
| 2026 7 g | 13 of 41 32% | 55% | 48% | 26.3 | +0.10 | |
| All 21 g | 42 of 156 27% | 49% | 40% | 25.7 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.