Sheridan is the talk of the state this week after bringing one of Arkansas’ best-known high school football coaches to Grant County.
The school introduced new Yellowjacket football head coach Kevin Kelley to fans in between its girls’ and boys’ basketball games Tuesday night. He was officially named Sheridan’s coach during the school board’s regularly scheduled meeting Monday night.
He replaces Tyler Turner, who left Sheridan after one season to return to Tennessee for family reasons.
Kelley, who was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, was the head coach at Pulaski Academy from 2003-20 and became nationally known for his unique coaching philosophy.
He uses an analytics-based coaching style, often forgoing punting to go for it on fourth downs. According to a press release from Sheridan School District, Kelley’s Bruin teams punted eight times in 18 years. He also regularly attempts 2-point conversions and onside kicks after scoring touchdowns.
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Kelley said his style is all about giving his team the best chance to win.
“People see it as the onside kicking, the no punting, a lot of going for it on fourth downs, but there’s so much more to the numbers-based offense, to what we’re doing,” Kelley said. “I just think that gives you an advantage, and that means it puts us in a situation where I’m hoping that the biggest, fastest, strongest team doesn’t always have to win, because I don’t think that has to be the case. Hopefully, we’re able to prove that on the field.”
Kelley left PA in 2021 to become the head coach at Presbyterian College in North Carolina. He left after one season and returned to Arkansas and has been in private business since. He said he spoke with Sheridan last year, but the timing wasn’t right for him as he needed more time to get his private business established.
A year later, the timing was right. Kelley said as people from Sheridan told him about the town and the school, he could tell they loved it, which piqued his interest. He then reached out to Rick Treadway.
Treadway coached girls’ basketball at Sheridan for 23 years before Kelley hired him to the same role at Pulaski Academy in 2011. Kelley said he and Treadway are good friends, so he wanted his opinion.
“I called him, said ‘Tell me about Sheridan. Is this worth looking at?'” Kelley said. “He’s like, ‘You gotta go. You gotta go.’ He goes, ‘It’s a great town, great place.’ That’s a guy that’s been gone 12 years, so I thought that was really important.”
While at PA, Kelley compiled a 216-29-1 record and won nine state championships, including six in his final seven years in Little Rock.
Sheridan, by comparison, is not accustomed to that level of success. The Yellowjackets have never won a football state championship. They last reached the playoffs in 2020 and last won a playoff game in 2011, a 15-10 first-round win at Jacksonville.
Despite the lack of history, Kelley said he wouldn’t come to Sheridan if he didn’t think winning a state championship is possible.
“I’m not saying it happens tomorrow, not saying it takes 25 years,” Kelley said. “I don’t think any of those things. I think it’s always possible, depending on the buy-in and how good the coaches aren’t just coaches, but teachers. The goal here is, I think Sheridan’s been churning out some great people. We want to churn out great people and great football players at the same time.
“Great is relative to how well do they perform up to their potential. They don’t have to be [Division I] players to be great football players. They just have to play the best that they can play. Not the hardest. A lot of guys play the hardest, but they don’t play their best. If we can get them to do that, we’ve done our job as coaches, and you got a chance for a championship.”
Kelley said he has met the coaching staff and hopes to be able to meet the team soon, though he was impressed by a few of the players who have already come to him to introduce themselves.