By Brian Lester
D3sports.com

Tom Kelley wasn’t planning to coach football again. He was good with his retirement after two stints as the head coach at Framingham State. His job as the athletic director at Framingham State was enough to keep him busy.

Then the head coach that was hired to lead the program in 2021 opted to leave for another opportunity just two weeks before the start of camp. 

Kelley took a hard look at the remaining staff and knew exactly what he had to do. 

So much for living the retired coaching life.

Framingham State athletics photo

“I looked at who we could make an interim and the staff was a little skinny,” Kelley said. “I talked with my administration staff and said I gotta come back, even if it’s for a year. We have to get through this with as little fanfare and stress as possible.”

Of course, he still had to let his wife in on the news. 

“I went home and my wife said ‘what’s the matter.’ I said the coach left and I’m back,” Kelley said. “I was planning to go to my first fall wedding this year. She said, Tom, ‘I feel so bad for you, but I’m happy for me,’ ” Kelley said. “She loves going to the games but she loves me being out of the house 80 to 100 hours a week even more.”

This wasn’t going to be easy. Kelley had little coaching knowledge of the roster that he was inheriting. Most of the players he coached in his last season in 2019 were no longer there. 

“The first team meeting, there were more kids I didn’t know than I did know,” Kelley said. “It was hard and a little strange, especially for the kids who didn’t know me or my style. It was a little stressful to put it mildly,” Kelley said.

There was also stress in building a staff, which he pieced together in the two weeks leading up to camp.

One week into his search, he thought he had a staff set. Then he lost three coaches. The ones he still has aren’t always available because of previous plans they committed to prior to the season, including the offensive coordinator getting married.

“Every week we are missing a coach and it’s no fault of theirs,” Kelley said. “When I asked those guys to join me, they had plans, and they were plans they couldn’t change. That’s hard. It was harder on the players than on me, but they handled everything like champions.”

That includes returning defensive end Joshua Onujiogu, who originally had no plans to return after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 season. He was focused on playing football beyond college.

But when he did decide to return, he said it was a relief to know a familiar face would be coaching him for his last season of college football.

“It’s a true blessing to have coach Kelley here,” Onujiogu said. “We were a little flustered because we weren’t sure who the coach was going to be, but when we found out it was coach Kelley, we lost all of our worries and jumped on board with him.”

Part of what makes Kelley a great coach is the way he helps his players, not just in preparation for a game on a Saturday afternoon but for life as well.

“He teaches us a lot about life using football, and we all appreciate that,” Onujiogu said. “We can take those skills we’ve learned and do what we want after college. He makes us all feel like family and is always there for us. We know we can come to him with any problems.”

Kelley said it’s players like Onujiogu that have helped make his transition back to coaching easier. Onujiogu was with him in his final two seasons as the head coach in 2018 and 2019 when the Rams won the conference championship and reached the NCAA playoffs both years.

Kelley, a four-year starter at defensive tackle for the Rams in 1970s, has won more than 100 games in his coaching career that covers three stints in the job. 

He first coached from 1982-84 and then took over the program again in 2007 and coached for 13 seasons. Between 2010 and 2019, Kelley led his team to eight or more wins nine times.

That history, though, that Kelley helped build, first as a four-year starter in the 1970s and then as a coach with more than 100 wins isn’t something he spends a ton of time talking about. Kelley coached the Rams first from 1982-84 and then from 2007-19. 

“The one thing about players is they don’t like to revisit history. It’s that 'now' mentality,” Kelley said. “I tell them about the success we’ve had here sometimes, but you can’t hammer it. They have to be their own people. We talk a lot about legacy and that they have to make their own legacy and history, and they are.”

The season began with some tough moments as the Rams dropped their first two games.

“Getting whacked by Brockport (31-0) and then getting whacked by St. John Fisher (38-7), I was concerned. I was just hoping to win at least one game this season,” Kelley said. “I had my concerns about how good we were and how good we could be. I thought it was going to be a long year.”

Onujiogu believes part of the early struggles were tied to the mental game. 

“I think in the beginning we were still a little flustered about what the season was going to be like. I wouldn’t say we were doing a lot wrong, we just had to find a groove,” Onujiogu said. “We watched the film and looked at what we had to do to get better. We focus on one thing at a time and get it done when it’s due.”

Lately, the Rams have been getting it done on the field. They’ve rattled off five consecutive wins, all by double digits, to push to 5-2 overall and 5-0 in the MSCAC.

Once a team that Kelley wasn’t sure about has become a team that he loves watching practice and play.

“I think they’ve bought into what we are selling,” Kelley said. “They work really hard. It’s been a joy coaching these guys.”

He takes pride in seeing how far they have come.

“I’m so proud of the guys,” Kelley said. “They have accepted every challenge and have reeled off five in a row and I’m as amazed as anybody.”

What a difference a couple of months make.

“If you had asked me in August about the season, I would have told you November can’t get here fast enough,” Kelley said. “But we got into camp, and we improved little by little and have gotten on a little bit of a roll. Things are okay in Tom Kelley’s world.”

After last week’s 35-21 win over Western Connecticut State, Kelley talked to his players about the progress they have made, and no matter how the rest of the season plays out, he will have no complaints.

“My main message last Saturday was that I’m proud of the guys no matter what happens from here on in. The guys have stepped up. If we lose the next three, we’ve still had a successful season, and I mean that. These guys have built something they can be proud of and they will look back on it and be proud.”

Onujiogu, the reigning player of the week in the conference, said he’s thankful he’s been able to go through this season with Kelley and hopes to see the team keep the momentum rolling in their direction as they aim to win a league title.

“I appreciate getting to spend the season with him,” Onujiogu said. “We have three games left and we have to take it one at a time, but we want to win them all. We really want to win the conference and win a playoff game, and bring a little more history to Framingham.”

Kelley said he’s never worked a day in his life because he’s been doing what he loves for so many years. He’s been a part of a lot of great moments at the school and is loving having the chance to be a part of a few more.

“I feel rejuvenated. It’s a lot of fun,” Kelley said. “I can’t believe there are only three games left (in the regular season).”

But they aren’t expected to be his last three games. 

“This was supposed to be a one-year deal and then we were going to bring in someone else. I think I’m staying. They might have to take me out boots first,” Kelley said with a laugh. “I think I’m going to stay until they tell me to leave.”