Lanier High School hired former NFL and Mississippi State football player Tommy Kelly as its football coach Thursday.
Kelly, 43, replaces Michael Ashford, who had been in charge at Lanier since 2017. Ashford was forced to step away from coaching due to health-related issues. This is Kelly’s first head coaching job.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to become the new football coach at Lanier High School,” Kelly said. “… The kids have been working real hard during the offseason, hitting the weight room hard, and we’ve been having a real good spring.”
Kelly, a 6-foot-6, 310-pound former defensive lineman, played at Mississippi State from 2001-04 and was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Oakland Raiders in 2004.
Kelly’s NFL career lasted 10 seasons – eight years in Oakland and stints with the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals. Kelly registered 475 total tackles, 324 solo and 37.5 sacks.
“I feel like it’s gonna be a great experience,” junior running back Jeremiah Wilson said. “I feel like he’s a great person with great ideas. … I feel like everything he’s gonna bring to Lanier High School it’s gonna be a good thing. We got a bright future ahead of us.”
After Kelly retired from football in 2014, he went into coaching at Provine, his alma mater, and was the defensive coordinator. In 2023, Kelly was a part of the Copiah-Lincoln College coaching staff as the team’s defensive line coach. When Kelly saw the job opening at Lanier, he said he didn’t think twice about his decision to lead the Bulldogs.
“I mean, it was always my dream as a kid to come back,” said Kelly, a native of Jackson. “So I jumped at the opportunity when it came open for me. Just very excited to be back home.”
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Kelly takes over a Lanier program that finished 3-8 last season and lost to Poplarville in the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs.
Being a defensive player his whole football career Kelly says his style of coaching is going to greatly revolve around his defense.
“We’re playing hard for four quarters and leaving it on the field,” he said. “We’re gonna try and play, fast, smart and aggressive defensive.”
Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
