By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
BEARS’ BOSSES
A look at the last 10 head football coaches at Lenoir-Rhyne University, which on Wednesday fired Mike Kellar after two seasons:
Jack Huss (1974–1979)
Henry Vansant (1980–1983)
John Perry (1984–1990)
Charles Forbes (1991–1996)
Bill Hart (1997–2001)
Wayne Hicks (2002–2006)
Fred Goldsmith (2007–2010)
Mike Houston (2011–2013)
Ian Shields (2014–2015)
Mike Kellar (2015-2-17)
SOURCE: Wikipedia
HICKORY – Lenoir-Rhyne University fired head football coach Mike Kellar on Wednesday after two seasons.
The Bears went 6-15 overall and 5-9 in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) under Kellar, who came to Hickory after four seasons as head coach at California (Pa.) University.
KELLAR
LRU finished 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the SAC this season, giving the Bears their first back-to-back losing seasons since 2008-09 under head coach Fred Goldsmith.
LRU finished seventh among eight teams in the SAC this season.
In a press release generated by LRU’s marketing and communications department, school officials said they were making a change and going into the market for LRU’s 22nd head football coach in school history.
The release indicated current assistant coach Dave Cole will serve as interim head coach while a national search for a new head coach begins immediately.
“I want to thank Coach Kellar for his contributions to LR and the dedication he and his staff have shown in support of our student-athletes,” Kim Pate, the Bears’ director of intercollegiate athletics, said in the release. “I wish him and his family all the best in their future endeavors.”
Pate was not available for further comment.
The release did not address the status of any of the Bears’ football staff other than Kellar and Cole, who weren’t available for comment.
Terms of Kellar’s coaching contract — such as length of it and his salary — were not available when he was hired so it is unclear if the school has any monetary obligation to Kellar as he leaves.
Angela Reiter, director of marketing and communications at LRU, declined comment when asked specifics about Kellar’s contract to coach the Bears.
In the release, LRU President Dr. Fredrick K. Whitt said: “We appreciate Mike’s efforts on behalf of LR football. LR has a storied football tradition and we are committed to supporting our student-athletes and developing champions both on and off the field.”
Kellar’s firing comes just four years after the Bears played for an NCAA Division II football championship. LRU won four league championships from 2011-14, reached the national playoffs three times and fell 43-28 to Northwest Missouri State in the 2013 title game in Florence, Ala.
Mike Houston — who won an FCS national championship last season as head coach at James Madison University — led the Bears to a 29-8 record over three seasons and was hired as head coach at The Citadel after LRU’s national title game appearance.
The Citadel went 14-11 in two seasons under Houston — who turned 46 on Tuesday — and won a Southern Conference championship. He was then hired at JMU, where his team this season is 10-0 heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale at Elon.
Houston’s coaching staff at JMU includes former South Caldwell High and LRU quarterback Donnie Kirkpatrick.
LRU hired Ian Shields, an assistant coach at Army, to replace Houston. His two teams went 11-1 and 5-5, and he resigned to become head coach at Jacksonville (Fla.) University, an FCS school, in early December of 2015.
Kellar was then hired to replace Shields and introduced on Dec. 22, 2015.
“He (Kellar) blew us away,” Brent Heaberlin of the LRU athletic department said in a Hickory Daily Record story about hiring Kellar. “We brought in five candidates (for interviews) and felt there was a reason all five were out here – but (Kellar) was the best of the five.
“Every step of the way, we knew this was our guy. Everything he brings to the table is exactly what we need here.”
Under Kellar, LRU changed from running a triple-option offense to one that featured a consistent passing attack. The Bears led the nation in rushing yardage for three straight seasons (2012-14) and set NCAA records for single-season rushing (5,563 yards in 2013) and an NCAA Division II record by averaging 416.2 yards rushing per game in 2014.
“(LRU) knows how to win,” Kellar said in The Record’s story. “I’m just going to come in and win differently, and hopefully win one more game than you won three years ago – that’s my goal.”
In the same story, then-LRU President Dr. Wayne Powell characterized the Bears’ program as one of the best in the country and their head-coaching job as perhaps the best at a private school in NCAA Division II.
Kellar was a unanimous choice by LRU’s search committee, the story reported.