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Chad Kelly’s career has already been full of ups and downs and being quarterback at Ole Miss is ultimately going to be Kelly’s last chance to finally show that all of the hype is true. He has to show that Chad Kelly is no longer the immature boy who has been to three different colleges before finally settling on Ole Miss, but the question is if Chad Kelly is actually as good as everyone thinks he is or if he’s just a product of his circumstances.
Kelly is was dismissed from Clemson’s football program for “detrimental conduct” in 2014. It has been rumored that Kelly took his frustrations out on the Clemson coaches and was extremely disrespectful. However during his time at Clemson, Kelly only appeared in five games and completed 10 of 17 passes, scored one rushing touchdowns and not turning the ball over once. While Kelly could have been a great addition to Clemson’s team, his behavior was deemed unacceptable and he decided to transfer to East Mississippi Community College where he spent his 2014 year. Kelly played in 12 games, completed 303 of 453 attempted passes and threw 47 touchdowns with eight interceptions. However, now that he is at Ole Miss, people are starting to pay attention to him again.
Kelly has lost almost all of what made him so popular. Kelly didn’t lose any of his talents, but lost his cocky attitude and started to mature slowly which has improved his play. Kelly has the Rebels off to a 5-1 start which is still third in the SEC West Division but has put up some serious points in each game, with the lowest being ten and the largest being 73. While the loss against Florida last week was rough especially with the Rebels only scoring in the second half, Kelly showed that he’s not going down without a fight and his revenge came against New Mexico State this week.
In their game against the Aggies, Kelly brought his team to a 52-3 victory; completing 24 of 33 passes for 384 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Kelly also brought up his completion percentage to the second highest that it’s been this season at 72.7% and had one rushing touchdown. Even after the game, Kelly didn’t praise his own performance, but one of his teammates instead. Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell made a catch that would make OBJ proud and when asked about it, Kelly had kind words to say, “That was a really good catch. I’m glad he’s on my team”.
The real question is if Kelly is all hype or if he is actually worth all the praise he is receiving. The answer is yet to be determined because Kelly could still have another year of college so it’s a little early to try to put a definite label on him now. However, it looks like Kelly is the real deal and if he can keep playing as well as he has and keep his attitude to a minimum, it will be exciting to see where he ends up.
