MORGANTOWN — On Friday nights this fall, you’ve been able to catch former University High football coach John Kelley either in the press box or on your radio.
He’s the color analyst on WAJR for Hawks’ football games, making him a full-fledged member of the media.
“The one thing I know now is I wish I would have spent my entire coaching career in the press box,” he begins. “It’s unbelievable how much different the view is of the game from up there than from the sidelines.
“You see plays developing better. You can tell who is getting beat. You see the blitzes developing faster. I don’t know why more head coaches don’t head up to the press box.”
The drawback to that is the loss of the traditional leader being there up close and personal with his troops.
“Yeah, but I bet the officials would have loved it a lot more if I had been in the press box,” Kelley jokes.
The thought of Kelley moving from the sidelines to a color analyst doesn’t take much of leap to get there.
Even calling him a member of the media now hardly makes him pause, not something you could say about a lot of football coaches.
Then again, very few coaches — at any level — understood how to build a strong relationship with the media like Kelley did.
He was as quotable every bit as much as Bill Gates is rich, and it would take a search far and wide to find a reporter who didn’t cherish any type of sit-down opportunity with Kelley.
Except now his words and opinions are actually heard verbatim, rather than being read second hand in print.
“That part I have to be aware of,” Kelley said. “I really do find myself censoring myself quite a bit.”
A censored John Kelley? Come on.
“I’m enjoying it very much, but I have to be careful not to be too critical,” he continued. “Sometimes I have to find a better way to describe what I’m seeing, but I think I’m adding something good to the broadcast.”
Kelley’s coaching career lasted 49 years, 41 of them with the Hawks. He announced his retirement in February.
Which leads us to this week, otherwise known around town as Mohawk Bowl week, when UHS meets up with rival Morgantown High.
For the last few decades, Kelley has spent that week in preparation, whether it was watching film, directing his game-plan meeting with his assistants or in practice.
No more.
“That part is going to be difficult for me,” he admits. “All of that behind-the-scenes stuff is what I loved about coaching. The moments you shared with the coaches and players, that was always the fun part.”
With this year’s Mohawk Bowl being the Mohigans’ home game, Kelley likely won’t be part of the radio broadcast.
His plan is to be down on the sidelines again, maybe hacking it up with his fellow members of the media.
He won’t be in the stands.
“That’s the last place you’d catch me,” Kelley said. “I couldn’t listen to all the complaining and whining going on. If I was in the stands, I would probably bite clear through my lip trying to hold back.”
The rivalry goes on, but Kelley gave this bit of insight on what the week will be like for UHS coach Eric Snyder and MHS coach Sean Biser.
“What I really experienced a lot is you’ve got to spend time that week calming the players down,” Kelley said. “When it gets to (Mohawk Bowl) week, the kids really start to get jacked up.
“You try to keep it the same as any other game, but obviously the players don’t feel that way.”
