Saraland coach Jeff Kelly, left, and his son Caden, right, flank Helen “Ace” Massey, the widow of former Citronelle coach Ronny Massey, during Saturday’s Alabama Football Coaches Association ceremony in Montgomery. Jeff Kelly was named the ALFCA’s Class 6A Coach of the Year and Caden Kelly was awarded the Ronny Massey Scholarship. Jeff Kelly was an All-State quarterback at Citronelle under Ronny Massey. (Jimmy Wigfield/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — Saraland coach Jeff Kelly, his wife Lisa, their children Caden and Lucy and his parents Tommy and Neci had to drive 160 miles for a momentous family reunion Saturday but it was well worth it.
When the Kellys reached the Embassy Hotel, they were met by Helen “Ace” Massey, the widow of late Citronelle coach Ronny Massey, who was in attendance not only to congratulate Kelly for being named the Alabama Football Coaches Association Class 6A Coach of the Year but to award the Ronny Massey Scholarship to Caden Kelly.
His son winning a scholarship in Massey’s memory meant even more than being named Coach of the Year to Kelly, who was an All-State quarterback at Citronelle under the venerable coach, who died of cancer in 2010.
“To be able to receive an honor that represents coach Massey and all that he’s meant to me and our family, to me, that’s worth more than a million dollars,” Kelly said. “I’m a proud dad today for sure.”
Caden Kelly, who played wideout for the Spartans under his father, will attend Auburn and major in chemical engineering. He has a 4.38 grade-point average.
Winning the Massey Scholarship was cause for a joyous celebration in the Kelly household, although it came remotely because his parents weren’t home when he got the news.
“My parents called me,” he said. “They were just wondering if I got the letter saying that I got a scholarship. They were like, ‘Go outside and go check the mailbox.’ They were watching me on the Ring doorbell and before I could even get inside, they called me because they were watching the doorbell and they saw I had a letter. They were that excited. I called them on Face Time. I unpacked it, the letter, and it said, ‘coach Ronny Massey Scholarship.’ My dad about burst into tears just because it meant so much to him because of who it was that coached him.”
Caden Kelly was part of Saraland teams that went to three straight Super 7s but playing for his father wasn’t easy.
“It has its pros and cons,” he said. “Pros, you get to see him a lot more during the day. There’s probably more cons than benefits. I have so many routes during practice I’ve dropped, just probably three or four feet in front of me where I can’t really get to it, and he’s just, ‘Lay out for it!’ He’s just making sure that everybody knows I don’t get treated any differently just because of what my last name is. After practices, he would tell me, ‘Don’t take that dropped ball too seriously. I just had to get on your tail a little bit just to make sure everybody knows, you know.’”
Kelly’s tactics have been ultra-successful for years. Saraland has the best record in Class 6A the last five seasons (62-9) and has won 10 or more games in nine of the last 12 seasons, including the last seven straight, the only Class 6A team to do it. Kelly is 145-37 after 14 seasons with the Spartans, including the 2022 state championship.
In 2024, Saraland was ranked No. 1 throughout the season but lost to Parker 28-17 in the state championship game to complete a three-year stretch in which the Spartans finished 14-1, 14-1 and 13-1.
“I’m blessed to work with some awesome coaches, some awesome men that do things the right way,” Kelly said. “It means that we have great kids and that’s who it’s really about. If you get an honor like this, it’s because you had an outstanding group of young men that play the game at a high level, that play it the right way. They’re a joy to be around, so I am really, really thankful. They give the plaque to one person but it’s just a credit to our coaches and our players.”
Despite the loss of veteran stars in quarterback K.J. Lacey, running back Santae McWilliams, receiver C.D. Gill and defensive lineman Antonio Coleman, the Spartans’ goal and expectation of winning the state championship remains.
“We want to approach every year with the same mindset and the same thought process,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to have kids improve and grow and work and be ready to play when the time comes and that’s what we’re focusing on right now. We’ve been able to sustain it for a long time — I think seven years in a row with 10 wins or more — and so the expectation’s always there. We’ve got a lot of work to do but I like our guys coming up.”
