John Kelling was named LHU's new head football coach in January 2020.
FULL RELEASE (Jan. 7, 2020)
The 2021 season will be Kelling’s first on-the-field season of coaching at LHU and his first as a head coach at the collegiate level.
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.
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 29
th 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 Augustana 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.
