A couple of weeks after being unceremoniously and summarily dismissed by Clemson, Chad Kelly will drop to a much lower level of football in attempt to restart his collegiate playing career.
East Mississippi Community College announced this past weekend that Kelly, the nephew of former Miami Hurricanes and NFL great Jim Kelly, has signed a national letter of intent with the JUCO program. It was revealed that Kelly had actually signed with the school Wednesday, April 23.
As noted by the Charleston Post & Courier, two former EMCC quarterbacks, Randall Mackey and Bo Wallace, went on to start for Ole Miss.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced April 14 that Kelly had been dismissed from the team for “conduct detrimental to our program.” Kelly, benched following a couple of interceptions, verbally sparred with assistant coaches during the spring game.
Kelly, along with Cole Stoudt and DeShaun Watson, had been part of a three-headed competition to replace long-time starter Tajh Boyd. With Kelly ousted and Watson injured, Stoudt was named the starter exiting spring.
After playing at the JUCO level in 2014, Kelly will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2015.