Right time, job
- Updated: December 22, 2024
New Jax State head coach Kelly says program has what it needs to continue to recruit well, be successful in its FBS incarnation.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
Rich Rodriguez won in the transfer portal while at Jacksonville State. He won in evaluating recruits within Jax State’s reach.
He won enough for Jax State to vault into FBS football, not crawl.
His replacement, who comes as a heralded recruiter during his many stays as an assistant coach in Power 4 programs, sees no reason why that can’t continue with a Group of 5 program like Jax State.
“Every level is different,” said Charles Kelly, speaking Sunday in his first media availability since his hiring as Jax State’s 30th head football coach. “The NIL has changed everything, but I still believe that players, they want to know, they have goals, they have aspirations.
“If you can show those players that you can help them get where they want go get to, and you have the resources at your university to do that, you have a chance to recruit those players. … Jacksonville has all of the resources that we need.”
Kelly met via Zoom with media Sunday, a day after Jax State announced his hiring. He replaces Rodriguez, who resigned to embark on a second stint as West Virginia’s head coach after three years of guiding Jax State through its move up from FCS.
Rodriguez quickly overhauled Jax State’s roster, using portal and traditional recruiting. He brought in 50 new players between his first spring and fall camps at Jax State. The 2024 Gamecocks welcomed 60 new players.
Rodriguez won nine games in each of his three seasons at Jax State. The Gamecocks won a bowl in their first FBS season and won the Conference USA championship in their second season.
Rodriguez did it after inheriting a team that went 5–6 in its final season of FCS playoff eligibility. He saw several players move on from Jax State for chances to play for Power 4 programs, including Zechariah Poyser (Miami) and Reginald Hughes (Colorado) from Jax State’s 2024 defense.
Kelly comes to Jax State after serving as Auburn’s co-defensive coordinator Charles Kelly. He’s a widely noted recruiter through 35 years of coaching at Auburn, Alabama, Colorado, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.
Kelly was the 2023 247Sports National Recruiter of the Year.
At age 57, Kelly says he has no shortage of energy and passion for recruiting. He sees recruiting as a three-pronged process.
“Everybody talks about the recruiting piece, but it’s all kind of clumped in there together,” Kelly said. “There are three prongs to it.
“First of all, it’s making the proper evaluations. The second thing is the actual recruitment, of enticing a young man to come here, and then to making sure you develop that player. If you help players develop, then you’re going to have success later on in recruiting.”
Kelly must fill out his staff to get his recruiting machine working at full go, and Jax State has announced that Kelly will retain offensive line coach Rick Trickett. Kelly worked with Trickett while at Auburn and Florida State.
Kelly confirmed reports that Tickett’s son, former Florida State and West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett, will be offensive coordinator.
“I’ve known Clint since he was a very young man and watched him grow,” Kelly said. “I’ve watched him develop as a coach. All of the people that I respect in this business on the offensive side of the football, understand that he is a good young prospect, and I’m excited to have him here.”
Kelly said he’s waiting out the bowl and playoff process to pursue other potential staff candidates.
As for what made now the time, and Jax State the job, for Kelly to make the jump into becoming a head coach, he said he’s passed on other opportunities. He’s familiar with Jacksonville State, having coached under Bill Burgess and Mike Williams there, from 1994-98.
“Jacksonville State is a special place,” he said. “Just the alumni, the fans, the support, all of the resources that this university has, you have every opportunity to be successful.
“At this time, the thing that is so intriguing, being a head coach, being able to develop an entire team. Every year, a team has its own lifespan, but being able to develop the team, being able to develop the coaching staff, being able to get the organization to go in one direction, that’s something that I wanted to have the opportunity to do.”
It all starts and ends with recruiting, and Kelly said he will emphasize a five-hour radius.
Kelly said he will also mine junior colleges, a recruiting market that potentially just got more fruitful now that Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia has won a court ruling that, if upheld, could make a player’s junior-college time not count against his NCAA eligibility.
“I don’t know how much the ruling will affect how everybody recruits,” Kelly said. “Our whole thing is, we will go anywhere to get a good football player.
“We want to focus on the South, because we want our fans, our students, our faculty to have a connection to those people,” he said. ‘But there will be certain times that we go out,.
“If there’s a great quarterback in California, we may go there. If there’s a great defensive back somewhere that we know about, and we have some connections there, we won’t limit ourselves to do that.”
As for whether Jax State can continue to draw what it needs to keep winning as an FBS Group of 5 program, Kelly said he has no doubt.
“We’ve got enough to attract good prospects,” Kelly said. “That’s what we intend to do.”
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