Eric Kelly is in his third season as the offensive coordinator and slot backs coach for Bethel College. He will also be working as the Director of Social Media for the Thresher Football program.
As part of the initial staff led by Coach Harrison, Kelly has overseen the offensive transformation that has undergone at Bethel.
In their first year with the flexbone offense, the Threshers finished the 2018 season by averaging over 274 rushing yards per game, the third most nationally. The 2018 squad had three All-KCAC second-team players and 13 total All-KCAC recipients.
The 2019 offense was one of the best in the program's history. The Threshers led the entire NAIA with 4,084 rushing yards, and averaged over 371 rushing yards per game. Both of these marks are now the program records.
Bethel finished the 2019 season with a record of 8-3, and finished second in the KCAC. They became ranked in the NAIA Top 25 for the first time since 2008, and ended the year as the #24 team in the polls. The 2019 Threshers had two NAIA All-Americans, the KCAC Special Teams Player of the Year, six All-KCAC First Team players, and recorded 19 total conference awards.
Before coaching at Bethel, Kelly was a two-year starter and four-year player at Harding University. During his time there, Kelly played in over 45 games in his career at Harding University.
Kelly helped Harding win it's first Great American Conference Championship in program history in 2016, as well as reaching the Quarterfinals of the Playoffs (Finishing 13-1); the deepest run in the Great American Conference's history.
Kelly received his undergraduate degree via a Bachelor of Sciences in Sport and Recreation Management.
Kelly attained his Masters of Business Administration from Harding University in 2017.
