Kelly never was the offensive genius ESPN billed him (and we bought him) as and it's easy to see why, if you just look at his football playing /coaching lineage.
•He was a four-year letter winner as a Linebacker at Assumption College
•His first coaching experience was as Linebacker Coach /Defensive Coordinator for Assumption the four years following his graduation
•Then he went to GVSU as a graduate assistant Defensive Backs coach in '87
•Then he was promoted to Defensive Coordinator for GVSU in '89...Defensive Coordinator is where he first made his Mark on championship level teams [here is a peek at how good that '89 team did with Kelly in his first year as Defensive Coordinator. Pay particular attention to how good the offense already is, when Kelly is DC and hasn't even touched it:
"GV led Division II in total offense, averaging 480.9 yards per game and also in points with 44.5. One of the highlights of the 1989 season was GVSU’s record breaking 91–0 victory over Valparaiso. The Lakers jumped out to a 56–0 halftime lead as they rolled up 731 yards in total offense. Freshman kicker Miguel Sagaro from Spain set a Division II record when he connected on 65 of 66 extra points for the season and sophomore fullback Eric Lynch scored 21 touchdowns. Lynch went on to begin an outstanding career with the Detroit Lions. Grand Valley finished third in the final 1989 Division II poll and earned the first of three consecutive playoff berths, losing to Indiana, PA, 34–24 on a frigid November afternoon highlighted by 11 inches of snow on the ground"]
•Then in '91 when coach Beck (who was the real man behind their powerful offense) left to become Notre Dame's new Offensive Coordinator, Kelly after doing so well as DC on a team that had three straight playoff berths, was promoted to Head Coach and for the first time he now has any oversight on the offensive side of the ball. To this point he has played defense for four years as a four letter LB and then spent first 8 seasons coaching (prior to becoming a HC) on the defensive side of the ball...where would you say his coaching roots are??
SIDE NOTES
-GVSU was 11-1 and 10-2 in 89 and 90 with Kelly as DC
-In Kelly's first 10 years as HC of GVSU, their records were:
1) 9-3
2) 8-3
3) 6-3-2
4) 8-4
5) 8-3
6) 8-3
7) 9-2
8) 9-3
9) 5-5
10) 7-4
-In all these years with Kelly at the helm there were no longer offensive bench marks being set like there was RIGHT before Kelly took over
I'm just sayin..