Builder Becomes the Barrier: Michael Kelly and USF’s Path to History

The South Florida Bulls are preparing for one of the most critical games in program history this Saturday against the United States Naval Academy.

With three regular-season games remaining, there are no hypotheticals for the Bulls. If they win out, they will make their first conference championship appearance in program history. Navy is the only remaining team on the Bulls’ regular season schedule with a winning record. The Midshipmen could be the last hurdle for USF to clear.

Adding even more stakes, the Bulls were ranked No. 24 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings. USF is the only Group of Five team ranked by the selection committee, meaning the Bulls are four wins away from the American Conference’s second-ever College Football Playoff berth, and first in the 12-team era.

If the Bulls win out, they would not only secure a conference championship berth, but the game would be played at Raymond James Stadium — a potentially fitting start to the swan song of Ray Jay hosting the Bulls, with USF’s on-campus stadium set to open in the 2027 season.

For USF fans, these accomplishments are the long-awaited rewards after enduring a mostly mediocre program for 28 years. Three years ago, the words “playoff” and “on-campus stadium” would have been the stuff of dreams for Bulls fans — but now, they’re reality.

The Bulls’ success can be credited to a host of hardworking and talented people, but one man has his fingerprints all over this newfound USF success: current Navy athletic director and former USF athletic director Michael Kelly.

Kelly left USF for Navy in June, returning to the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area where he grew up. His father, Dennis Kelly, served in the Navy.

While Kelly may no longer be at USF, the legacy he left behind is still very much alive. Kelly did countless great things for the Bulls athletic department, but his most impactful moves came within the football program.

Michael Kelly took over in 2018 with Charlie Strong as the Bulls’ head coach. Strong had some success at USF, finishing 10-2 in 2017. However, his success came to a screeching halt after a promising 7-0 start to the 2018 season. The Bulls went on to lose 14 of their next 18 games, leading Kelly to fire Strong at the end of the 2019 season.

Kelly’s next move was his worst. He hired Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott as USF’s next head coach. Scott finished his career with an abysmal 4-26 record and was fired in November 2022. The woeful stretch couldn’t have come at a worse time. As the college football landscape changed and conference rivals moved to Power Five conferences, the Bulls became a “get-right week” for most teams.

After Scott’s firing, Kelly and company were in a do-or-die situation for the football program’s health. The next coach would determine whether USF could stabilize or disappear from relevancy.

That’s when, on Dec. 4, 2022, Kelly hired Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh. Fast forward just under three years, and Golesh has the Bulls playing high-stakes games down the stretch of the season — a rarity in USF football history.

Six months later, Kelly and Jay Stroman, the co-chairman of the stadium project planning committee, helped get the $348 million stadium approved by the USF Board of Trustees. In September, the Florida Board of Governors approved the financial plan. On Nov. 8, 2024, shovels hit the ground, and construction for USF’s first on-campus stadium began.

In that eight-month span, Kelly laid the foundation for the emergence of USF football. The on-campus stadium will make attending games easier for students and will immensely improve the Bulls’ gameday atmosphere. On top of that, Kelly found the coach who now has USF in position for its best season ever.

“As a partner, he helped me in every imaginable way to build a program. He allowed us to do it our way, which is what he promised from the start,” Golesh said Tuesday morning. “He allowed us the time we needed to lay a foundation and gave us the resources to hire an elite staff.”

Kelly was a devoted fundraiser for Bulls athletics. He helped the athletic department double its budget to $100 million and secured more than $100 million in philanthropic gifts.

Kelly also hired men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim in March 2023. Abdur-Rahim brought an excitement to USF’s student body that hadn’t been felt in a long time. His words — “This ain’t the same old South Florida Bulls, my brother” — remain a rallying cry among USF fans and players alike.

Saturday will not be a final goodbye to Kelly. His fingerprints will remain on USF athletics through the football team’s accomplishments on and off the field. Kelly also hired head basketball and baseball coaches Bryan Hodgson and Mitch Hannahs.

In September, USF hired Rob Higgins as the CEO of Athletics, a new position created to replace Kelly and usher in a new era of USF athletics. However, that new era will be built on the foundation Kelly established.

“His contributions in elevating the department were awesome,” Higgins said in his introductory press conference. “We’re going to build upon what he made happen.”

In many ways, a USF win on Saturday over Kelly’s Navy football program would be the culmination of all he put into USF. His constant dedication to elevating the athletic department on and off the field has led to a season like this for the Bulls.

It will surely be a strange feeling for Kelly at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. He won’t suit up for either team, but his work over the past seven years has had a major impact on the product on the field.

The question that remains: Will Kelly’s Midshipmen spoil his hard work and halt the Bulls’ dream season?