Taylor Kelly (born March 30, 1991) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He currently serves as the quarterbacks coach for Mater Dei High School. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

Early life

Born and raised in Eagle, Idaho, near

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

, Kelly graduated from Eagle High School in 2010. Regarded as the top senior football player in the state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

by '' Scout.com'', he was the only player from Idaho to sign an FBS letter of intent to attend a BCS conference university in 2010. He completed 119-of-192 passes (62.0-percent) for 1,800 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior in 2008 despite missing time due to an injury, and also carried 77 times for 423 yards (5.5 avg.) with five touchdowns that year. As a senior, he led Eagle High School to an 11–1 record in 2009 and the Class 5A State Championship, completing 182-of-265 passes (68.7 percent) for 2,509 yards and 22

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

in addition to 1,005 rushing yards on 156 carries (6.1 avg.) with 10 more scores. He threw for over 200 yards four times and rushed for over 100 yards in four games, and also added 35 tackles (29 solo) with 11 pass deflections, one fumble recovery and one blocked field goal. In the state championship game, he passed for 161 yards and a touchdown and had 103 rushing yards and two scores. Kelly also lettered in

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

at Eagle High School. In 2010, he recorded personal-bests of 11.74 seconds (non-FAT) in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and 5.79 meters (or 19 ft) in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

at the JV Meet Boise, placing fourth and second, respectively. He was listed as the top

and No. 2 overall recruit in the state of

by '' Rivals.com''. He was rated the No. 84 quarterback prospect in the country by '' Scout.com''. He was also ranked as the top quarterback and the No. 4 overall prospect in Rocky Mountain States Postseason Top-10 by '' Rivals.com''. He verbally committed to the Sun Devils on January 16, 2010.

College career

Kelly did not appear in any games in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he was the backup to

Brock Osweiler Brock Alan Osweiler (born November 22, 1990) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils and was selecte ...

and attempted four passes during the season, completing all of them for 31 yards. Kelly became the starter in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

as a redshirt sophomore, and finished the season 241 of 359 for 3,039 yards, 29

and nine

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, he finished the season with 3,635 yards, 28 passing touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. As a senior in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Kelly played in 10 games, missing three due to injury. He finished the year passing for 2,114 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Statistics

Professional career

Following his time at Arizona State, Kelly was summarized by NFL scouts as an "average size and average talent." Kelly was not selected in the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

, nor was he signed by any NFL team. He was invited and attended only one workout with the Arizona Cardinals, who opted to sign Phillip Sims over Kelly. Kelly served as a graduate assistant on the 2015 Arizona State Sun Devils football team. After the season, he moved to

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

and joined the staff at Edge Quarterback Training. He is the quarterbacks coach at Mater Dei High School.

References

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bioMater Dei High School bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Taylor 1991 births Living people People from Eagle, Idaho American football quarterbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Coaches of American football from Idaho Players of American football from Boise, Idaho High school football coaches in California