Tim Kelly has followed Bill O’Brien wherever he’s gone since joining his Penn State staff in 2012. When O’Brien took the coaching gig for the Houston Texans in 2014, Kelly followed him.
After being a quality control coach to a tight ends coach, Kelly was promoted to offensive coordinator in January after O’Brien doubled up for the past two seasons.
Kelly’s job: to unleash the firepower of Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson and his dynamic receiving corps led by All-Pro wideout DeAndre Hopkins, all the while working with Houston’s dubious offensive line.
Sounds like the recipe for anxiety, but Kelly coolly insists Sept. 9 at the New Orleans Saints will be no different.
“Personally speaking, every football game I’ve been involved with since I was in the fourth grade, there’s been nerves involved,” Kelly told reporters Thursday. “Whether or not they’re any different Monday night, I’ll be able to tell you next week, but I’m expecting to have the same amount of nerves that I always have.”
Instead of making sure one position group is ready to go, Kelly’s long hours each week as offensive coordinator are spent facilitating communication; ensuring that all 11 offensive players know what is occurring on the field and clarifying their roles. Kelly took on part of that undertaking while still a tight ends coach.
“I didn’t have the title, but it’s a little bit more responsibility, but again, the biggest thing for me is to make sure that all those guys, from Deshaun to [center] Nick (Martin) to everybody that’s on the field, understands what their role is and what their assignment is on every play.”
How Kelly was able to take over the reins of a NFL offense at 33 years old is a testament to his hard work he put in with O’Brien.
Said Kelly: “Coming in and really just putting your head down and going to work. Anybody that’s ever asked me of any advice, younger coaches that are trying to get in this profession, that’s what I’ve told them. They’ve asked how I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten to and some of it is luck and then just keeping my head down and trying to work and trying to do as best of a job as I could in the role that I was in.”
Now, it has paid off as Kelly is the coordinator for a talented offense that finished tied for 15th in the NFL in yards per play with 5.6. However, it won’t be until after the game with the Saints that Kelly will know just how nervous he really was in his premiere.
