Kelly Bates (born July 27, 1975) is a Canadian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

and former

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Simon Fraser Clan The SFU Red Leafs or Simon Fraser Red Leafs teams (formerly the Simon Fraser Clan) represent Simon Fraser University (SFU), which is located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The Red Leafs are members of NCAA Division II and are the only Ca ...

. He was most recently the

offensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He was drafted by the Lions in fourth round of the 2001 CFL Draft. He played

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athlet ...

for the University of

Saskatchewan Huskies The Saskatchewan Huskies are the athletics teams representing the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The university began their athletics program in 1907 and has competed with others since 1911. They currently compete in eli ...

College career

Bates was a core member of the University of

offensive line and helped the Huskies win the 1998

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup () is the trophy awarded annually to the champion Canadian football team in U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada. The U Sports football champion is determined in a one-game playoff (the Vanier Cup game), pl ...

Professional career

BC Lions

Bates was selected by the

in the 2001 CFL Draft (4th round, 32nd overall). In 2004, he missed 7 games to a knee injury and started 11 games. In 2005, Bates started all 18 games including the West Division Championship. In 2006, he again started all 18 regular season games, the western final, and the 94th Grey Cup. Bates was blamed by team-mates for breaking the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

after BC won it in 2006. He has been a starter on the team since 2003.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Bates was traded to the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

on May 14, 2009.

Coaching career

Bates was the

running backs coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

and

Canadian College Draft The CFL draft (also known as the CFL Canadian draft, CFL college draft, or the Canadian college draft) is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian players, typically from the ranks ...

coordinator for the BC Lions from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, he became the head coach of the

. Bates was fired on November 30, 2017 after going winless through three seasons. On August 31, 2019, it was announced that Bates had been hired by the

to serve as the

, replacing the fired Bryan Chiu. He served in that capacity through to the 2024 season, but was not retained on the staff in 2025.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Kelly 1975 births Living people BC Lions coaches BC Lions players Canadian football offensive linemen Edmonton Elks coaches Edmonton Elks players Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Huskies football players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Simon Fraser Red Leafs football coaches Sportspeople from Humboldt, Saskatchewan Winnipeg Blue Bombers players