Alva Kelley

Alva Kelley

Biographical details
Born	(1918-06-16)June 16, 1918
Died	August 21, 1999(1999-08-21) (aged 81)
Playing career
1938–1940	Cornell
Position(s)	End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1946–1949	Cornell (assistant)
1950	Yale (line)
1951–1958	Brown
1959–1961	Colgate
1963–1970	Hobart
Head coaching record
Overall	60–98–5
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
First-team All-Eastern (1939) Second-team All-Eastern (1940)

Alva E. Kelley (June 16, 1918 – August 21, 1999) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Brown University (1951–1958), Colgate University (1959–1961), and Hobart College (1963–1970), compiling a career college football record of 60–98–5.

Career

Kelley graduated from Cornell University in 1941 after playing three seasons of football under Carl Snavely and fellow fraternity brother George K. James, including the 1939 undefeated national championship season. He was a member of Sphinx Head, the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, and through the latter organization, the Irving Literary Society. He was assistant coach at Cornell from 1946 to 1949, before becoming head coach at Brown University and then Colgate. He was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.

Kelley was the 27th head football coach at Colgate University, serving for three seasons, from 1959 to 1961, and compiling a record of 9–18.

Personal life

One of his great-grandchildren, Will Levis, currently plays football for the Tennessee Titans of the NFL after spending the 2021 and 2022 seasons at the University of Kentucky as their starting quarterback. He also spent three seasons at Pennsylvania State University from 2018 to 2020.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Brown Bears (Independent) (1951–1955)
1951	Brown	2–7
1952	Brown	2–7
1953	Brown	3–5–1
1954	Brown	6–2–1
1955	Brown	2–7
Brown Bears (Ivy League) (1956–1958)
1956	Brown	5–4	3–4	5th
1957	Brown	5–4	3–4	T–4th
1958	Brown	6–3	4–3	T–4th
Brown:		31–39–2	10–11
Colgate Red Raiders (Independent) (1959–1961)
1959	Colgate	2–7
1960	Colgate	2–7
1961	Colgate	5–4
Colgate:		9–18
Hobart Statesmen (NCAA College Division independent) (1963–1970)
1963	Hobart	4–3–1
1964	Hobart	3–4–1
1965	Hobart	4–4
1966	Hobart	3–5
1967	Hobart	0–7–1
1968	Hobart	3–5
1969	Hobart	3–5
1970	Hobart	0–8
Hobart:		20–41–3
Total:		60–98–5