LHU Names John Kelling New Head Football Coach
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – John Kelling, a veteran college coach with a strong defensive background, has been named Lock Haven University’s new head football coach. Kelling brings with him nearly 30 years of coaching experience, including coaching positions at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels.
Most recently, Kelling spent the last six seasons (2014-2019) at Frostburg State University as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. At Frostburg, he played a key role in guiding the program in its transition from Division III to Division II football. Kelling has led a number of defensive players to honors including All-American status and his defensive units ranked among the nation’s best.
The new coach replaces David Taynor who was let go after the 2019 season. Taynor went 12-43 in five years at Lock Haven. The Bald Eagles have not had a winning season since the 1980s.
According to an LHU release announcing the new coach, Kelling has a vision for the program and is eager to get started at The Haven.
“It has been a blessing to be influenced by exceptional coaches and players throughout my life. My appreciation for all the former players who gave me their time and effort is something I will treasure forever,” Kelling said. “The relationships with these great men have helped me grow as a coach and a man. These experiences have led me to this incredible opportunity at Lock Haven and it is with great eagerness we begin building a championship mindset.”
“We will develop a positive culture in which we empower our student-athletes to believe they can accomplish anything they work for in the classroom, on the field and beyond,” Kelling added. “Thank you to the search committee, LHU President Dr. Robert Pignatello and Athletic Director Tom Gioglio for believing in me to lead the Bald Eagle Football program. My conversations with President Pignatello and Tom have me excited about where they see the program headed and I look forward to working together on accomplishing this vision.”
As the Bald Eagles usher in a new decade on the gridiron, Dr. Tom Gioglio, LHU director of athletics, is excited about the future of Lock Haven football.
“We are excited that our football program has attracted one of the most accomplished coaches in our region,” Gioglio said. “The search committee and I had a list of criteria that our new head coach needed to meet and John (Kelling) exceeded all of them. Besides John’s outstanding record of success, his extensive football knowledge, high integrity, gift for teaching and providing a positive learning environment, John has shown throughout his coaching career that he can recruit and develop student-athletes, which makes him the right fit to take our football program to new heights.”
There is no question that Kelling’s defensive mind helped turn around the Frostburg State program. In 2014, after the Bobcats went 4-6 in Kelling’s first season on the sidelines in Frostburg, Maryland, the team went 45-11 over the next five seasons, thanks in large part to a defense orchestrated by Kelling.
The Bobcats racked up 10-plus win seasons in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and finished their first season at the NCAA Division II level last fall (2019) at 8-3. Last season, Frostburg ranked in the top half in the nation in total defense and finished 29th overall in scoring defense (DII). Kelling’s unit ranked No. 1 in the Mountain East Conference, while Frostburg ranked No. 2 in the league in sacks and No. 4 in the MEC in interceptions.
Prior to Frostburg State, Kelling coached in various roles at the University of Mary, a Division II program in Bismarck, North Dakota (2012-13).
From 2006 to 2011, he was the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at the University of North Dakota, after the school made the transition to Division I (FCS) football. In 2011, North Dakota won the Great West Conference and was ranked among the nation’s top-25. Kelling was the defensive backs coach at North Dakota from 2004-05 and each of those two seasons the team advanced to the NCAA DII quarterfinals.
Before the University of North Dakota, Kelling coached at Augusta College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He started his college coaching journey at his alma mater, Minnesota State University, Mankato from 1992-95.
He’s helped guide countless players to individual honors including a pair of Harlon Hill finalists. The Harlon Hill Trophy is awarded annually to the top player in Division II football.
Kelling enjoyed a stellar collegiate player career, which culminated with him being named the Football Gazette’s Division II National Defensive Player of the Year in 1991, his senior season at Minnesota State University, Mankato. That same year, he was named the NCC Most Valuable Defensive Back. Overall, Kelling was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Conference student-athlete.
In 1993, Kelling earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from MSU Mankato, before earning a master’s in recreation and sports science from Ohio University in 2013.
