Caldwell HC Jim Kelly leads team through pandemic into spring 2021
CALDWELL, N.J. (BVM) — Jim Kelly is entering his third season as the head football coach at Caldwell University. In just over a calendar year, Kelly has taken this team from a winless season and turned them into a competitive team, and now they are ready to make the leap to championship contenders.
“I expect us to compete for a championship. You always want that as a coach and I think that we are in a situation where we don’t know how this is going to play out as far as when we are going to play, but we have to be ready”. Said Kelly. “I think the expectation level is high but expectations have to be met by everyone. To compete for a championship is definitely one of our goals”.
Coach Kelly took over as the head coach in August of 2018, days before camp was set to begin. Kelly went into that season not knowing his assistant coaches or players. After going winless in his first season at the helm, the team improved miles in year two. Caldwell went 3-4 and competed with championship contending teams.
“The original class that came in understood what we wanted to do philosophically. Year 1 was more of an assessment of what was in place and what wasn’t in place” said Kelly. “I think having a good recruiting class come in and having them get together with the upperclassmen, it took off on its own.”
College football in general has been a controversial topic during COVID-19. Schools, conferences, and even political figures are all saying what they feel regarding the sport. Some conferences pushed right through, while others cancelled. Some conferences cancelled before eventually jumping back in.
The Collegiate Sprint Football league decided to postpone the fall 2020 season with hopes of playing in the spring. Since then, nothing official has come from the CSFL regarding a spring 2021 season, but there is growing belief from everyone that Caldwell will have a football season.
“We’ve had multiple league meetings, and right now they’re working on proposed schedules that would be able to meet the needs of all the teams who are willing to participate in the spring. Our goal is to have a league schedule sooner rather than later.” Kelly said.
Caldwell is preparing for a spring season under the school guidelines regarding masks, social distancing, and Covid-19 protocol. Players have to be cleared by the training staff before workouts and meetings. Through all this, Kelly has been able to keep the team morale high.
“The energy is not low at all. Everyone is glad and just anxious to be back together in a structured atmosphere like it would be if we had actual fall practices.” said Caldwell senior tight end Vincent Crisafi.
The most important job that any college head coach has is recruiting. That is something that Kelly has excelled in. Caldwell has the maximum amount of players on their roster, which is vital to building a winning program. However, COVID-19 has changed the recruiting landscape.
“The problem is a lot of high schools aren’t even open. Normally you can visit a high school and talk to a coach. Right now, we’re setting up zoom meetings. We’ve also visited a couple of practices and workouts” Kelly said. “Not being able to go into a school and getting the proper paperwork from guidance counselors, that’s makes the process a little more tedious”.
Jim Kelly and his staff have laid the groundwork for a championship program. They have recruited well, built a positive culture, and have upperclassmen leadership. Kelly was dealt a tough hand when he got the job a week before camp in 2018. Since then, Caldwell has gone from the bottom of the league to legitimate contenders for the 2021 CSFL championship.
