Alva Kelley

Who was Alva Kelley?

Alva E. Kelley was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Brown University, Colgate University, and Hobart College, compiling a career college football record of 60–98–5.

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 for the Colgate University Raiders located in the Village of Hamilton in Madison County, New York and he held that position for three seasons, from 1959 until 1961. His overall coaching record at Colgate was 9 wins, 18 losses, and 0 ties. This ranks him 12th at Colgate in terms of total wins and 27th at Colgate in terms of winning percentage.