Doug Kay is a retired American football coach who was most recently assistant head coach for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL), which league ceased operations after the 2017 season. He has more than 55 years of football experience, including 12 seasons in the AFL. He was the head coach of the

Charlotte Rage The Charlotte Rage were a professional arena football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They were members of the Arena Football League from 1992 to 1996. They played their home games at the Charlotte Coliseum from 1992 to 1994 and th ...

, Carolina Cobras and Columbus Destroyers. He was also the head football coach at Olivet College from 1971 to 1975.

College career

Kay played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

under the tutelage of Lou Saban as a quarterback,

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, tight end and punter at Western Illinois University. He also played baseball at Western Illinois. He received a bachelor's degree in physical education from Western Illinois in 1961.

Coaching career

Kay's coaching career began in 1960 at his alma mater, Western Illinois University, as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. In 1961, Kay took over at Deerfield High School in Illinois, and coached there through the 1966 season; he was replaced by Paul Adams when he decided to return to college football. From 1967 to 1969 Kay served as the defensive coordinator at Indiana State University. Kay was then named the head coach of Olivet College in 1970. He spent the next six seasons with Olivet before taking over as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at San José State University in 1976. Kay moved to UCLA in 1977 where he was an assistant coach, working mainly with the linebackers and defensive line. In 1980, he took over at the University of Hawaii as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator for three seasons. Kay spent four seasons in the United States Football League with the Boston/New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits. His AFL experience began in 1993 as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

of the ArenaBowl VII champion Tampa Bay Storm. Four years later, Kay was once again defensive coordinator of a championship team, helping the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

capture ArenaBowl XI in 1997. Kay was head coach of the

in 1995 and returned to Charlotte as the head coach of the Carolina Cobras in 2000 and 2001. In 2001, Kay led the Cobras to their first non-losing season in their five-year franchise at a 7–7 record. He was head coach of the Columbus Destroyers from 2006 to 2008. In 2006, Kay led the Destroyers to their first non-losing season in the eight-year history of the franchise with an 8–8 record, setting franchise records for most wins and most road wins. He also tied a franchise record for most home wins with four. In 2007, despite a 7–9 regular season record, he won three playoff games and led the Destroyers to an appearance in ArenaBowl XXI, where they lost to the San Jose SaberCats. A 3–13 season in 2008 led to his dismissal. He later became an assistant for the Storm, where he was working when the league folded in 2017.

Head coaching record

College

AFL

References

External links

Doug Kay page at ArenaFan Online

1974 Olivet Football Team Hall of Fame Induction: Class of 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Doug Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football defensive backs American football punters American football quarterbacks American football tight ends Carolina Cobras coaches Charlotte Rage coaches Columbus Destroyers coaches Arizona Rattlers coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches NFL Europe (WLAF) coaches Olivet Comets football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Tampa Bay Storm coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches United States Football League coaches Western Illinois Leathernecks football coaches Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Western Illinois Leathernecks baseball players High school football coaches in Illinois Indiana State University alumni United States Army soldiers Sportspeople from Chicago Players of American football from Chicago