FOOTBALL: KELLAR LEAVING CONCORD

MOUNTAIN LIONS HEAD COACH RETURNING TO CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

• Share:

Following two promising seasons in which he helped restore Concord Football as a contender in the rugged West Virginia Intercollegiate Conference, Head Coach Mike Kellar has announced he's leaving the Mountain Lions.

Kellar resigned Thursday to return to California University of Pennsylvania, where he was an assistant coach for five years before coming to Concord in December 2008. He will be the Vulcans' new Associate Head Coach for Offense.


Concord Director of Athletics Kevin Garrett says a search is underway for Kellar's replacement.


Concord was 1-21 in the two seasons prior to Kellar's arrival. Kellar went 14-8 in his two seasons in Athens – 6-5 in 2009 and 8-3 in 2010. Last fall's campaign was CU's first eight-win season since 1991.

The 14 wins in Kellar's two seasons were more than the Mountain Lions recorded in their prior five

seasons combined (13).

“I'm proud of the way the kids bought in on day one. I'm so appreciative of what our players did and how hard they worked,” Kellar said Thursday. “It's been hard to talk to all of them since this has happened, since this is semester break, but I'll talk to each and every one of them as soon as I can.
“The truth of the matter is that it was about a bunch of guys to believe in what you're doing and to pull in the same direction. That's what it takes to win.”

Under Kellar, 27 different Concord players earned All-WVIAC recognition, including four on the 1st Team. WR Thomas Mayo and RB Brian Kennedy were on the 1st Team both years, while NT Dan Stone made the team in 2009 and S Aaron Martinez this past fall.
In 2009, Mayo led the nation in receiving, became Concord's first-ever regional finalist for the Harlan Hill Award and earned a spot on the d2football.com All-America team. That same season, Kennedy was named to the Daktronics All-Super Region One squad.

With Kellar calling the plays, Concord's offense showed startling improvement:

	2008	2009	2010
Points Per Game	11.2	33.2	36.4
Rushing Yards Per Game	79.8	227.0	195.2
Rushing Yards Per Carry	2.6	5.6	4.8
Passing Yards Per Game	106.1	234.0	303.0
Total Offense Yards Per Game	185.9	461.0	498.2

Kellar said he wasn't looking for a new job when long-time Cal-PA head coach John Luckhardt phoned him unexpectedly.

“Coach Luckhardt gave me a call about two or three weeks ago, asking me if I'd be interested in coming back. We talked about the situation there and what my future would be. I said I was interested but didn't think much more of it,” said Kellar. “A week later, Coach Luckhardt called back and outlined what my position would be. We talked about it and got things squared away. Things materialized pretty quickly.”

“I've been at Concord two years and didn't update my resume once. This was California calling me, and after Coach Luckhardt – someone I consider to be a mentor and a friend – asked me to come back, there's no way I could say no,” Kellar said. “But there's no way I'd have this opportunity if I wasn't head coach at Concord.
“To go back to Cal was easy. To leave Concord was hard. It's very hard to leave. It's tough to leave these players and this school.”

Concord loses just seven seniors and five starters from last season's 8-3 squad and is expected to be among the WVIAC contenders next year.

“I really believe the 2011 team was going to be the best we had – we have a lot of returning players on both sides of the ball,” Kellar noted. “We had hopes for a big season. This program is much better now than when we got there, and that's something to be really proud of.”


A native of Shinnston, WV, Kellar has ties to the WVIAC as a player and a coach. He was the starting quarterback at Glenville State in 1990, and transferred to Fairmont State in 1992 where he finished his playing career as the Fighting Falcons' starting QB.

Kellar's coaching career began as an assistant at Fairmont State. He eventually became Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach and was part of the Falcons' WVIAC championship teams in 1996 and 2000.

Kellar moved to Northern Michigan University in 2002. Two years later, Luckhardt hired Kellar as part of the staff at California (PA).

Read the story Cal-PA posted about Kellar's return to the Vulcans here.

Concord has won 11 WVIAC Football championships and has produced 28 All-American players.

Print Friendly Version