Staff Directory
Kelly, Jason
Jason Kelly
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
Jason Kelly, the 2018 D1Baseball.com National Assistant Coach of the Year, enters his second season in Aggieland as the associate head coach and pitching coach.
During his first season at Texas A&M, Kelly's staff finished the season ranked second nationally in walks allowed per nine (2.89), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31), 11th in WHIP (1.27) and 20th in ERA (4.30). Throughout the year, the Aggies boasted the same left-handed starting rotation in Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Myles Patton. Lamkin led the group with a 3.42 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings of work en route to earning ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region Second Team honors.
Kelly boasts over 20 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, with his previous stop being at Washington, where he served as the head coach. In his first season at the helm, the Huskies defied expectations and finished third in the Pac-12 standings with a 17-12 mark after being selected to seventh in the preseason poll. The 2023 team finished with a 35-20 record and earned the program’s 12th NCAA Regional bid.
The 35 wins were the second most by a first-year head coach in Washington history.
Six players from Kelly’s inaugural squad were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, marking the second time the Huskies had at least five players drafted since 2014. Kiefer Lord, taken 86th overall by the Baltimore Orioles, became the highest-drafted Husky since 2015. Case Matter (Texas Rangers), Stu Flesland III (Colorado Rockies), Johnny Tincher (Cleveland Guardians), Will Simpson (Oakland Athletics) and Coby Morales (New York Yankees) also heard their names called.
Kelly also managed nine All-Pac-12 honorees in the 2023 campaign.
Prior to joining the Huskies, Kelly served as the pitching coach at LSU in 2022 and held the same position at Arizona State the two seasons before.
During the 2022 campaign, he helped the Tigers to a 40-22 record and their 34th trip to the NCAA Tournament. Kelly’s pitching staff totaled 610 strikeouts to only 220 walks in 554 innings, while holding opponents to a .240 average.
While working as an assistant alongside Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley at Arizona State, Kelly guided a pitching staff that helped the Sun Devils to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, despite losing all three weekend starters and closer. In the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, Kelly oversaw a pitching staff that recorded a 3.56 ERA compared to a 4.93 mark the season prior.
Before working at Arizona State, Kelly spent seven seasons as the pitching coach with Washington, where he was named the 2018 D1Baseball.com National Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the Huskies to their first College World Series appearance. During his tenure, he worked with 15 MLB Draft picks, developed the 2016 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year in Troy Rallings and helped the program to a top-10 recruiting class in 2016.
Prior to arriving in Seattle, Kelly was the pitching coach at Cal Poly from 2007-12. In his first season in San Luis Obispo, he produced two pitchers who were selected in the top-five rounds of the draft, while his 2011 staff recorded the lowest ERA in the school's 17-year existence at the Division I level.
Kelly began his four-year college coaching career under Meggs at Chico State, where as the pitching coach he helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back Division II College World Series berths. His 2005 Chico State staff compiled the sixth-best ERA in the nation.
Prior to coaching at Chico State, Kelly spent one season (2004) in baseball operations at Cal Poly and one season (2003) coaching at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He also coached summer college teams from 2002-04, helping both the San Luis Obispo Blues and the Anchorage Bucs to the National Baseball Congress World Series.
Kelly was a pitcher at Cal Poly in 1999, and after redshirting in 2000, he went on to pitch at Cuesta College in 2001 and at Missouri Valley College in 2002. He is a 1998 graduate of St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, Calif.
Kelly is married to his wife Tracy and together they have a daughter Peyton and son Cade.
During his first season at Texas A&M, Kelly's staff finished the season ranked second nationally in walks allowed per nine (2.89), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31), 11th in WHIP (1.27) and 20th in ERA (4.30). Throughout the year, the Aggies boasted the same left-handed starting rotation in Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Myles Patton. Lamkin led the group with a 3.42 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings of work en route to earning ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region Second Team honors.
Kelly boasts over 20 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, with his previous stop being at Washington, where he served as the head coach. In his first season at the helm, the Huskies defied expectations and finished third in the Pac-12 standings with a 17-12 mark after being selected to seventh in the preseason poll. The 2023 team finished with a 35-20 record and earned the program’s 12th NCAA Regional bid.
The 35 wins were the second most by a first-year head coach in Washington history.
Six players from Kelly’s inaugural squad were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, marking the second time the Huskies had at least five players drafted since 2014. Kiefer Lord, taken 86th overall by the Baltimore Orioles, became the highest-drafted Husky since 2015. Case Matter (Texas Rangers), Stu Flesland III (Colorado Rockies), Johnny Tincher (Cleveland Guardians), Will Simpson (Oakland Athletics) and Coby Morales (New York Yankees) also heard their names called.
Kelly also managed nine All-Pac-12 honorees in the 2023 campaign.
Prior to joining the Huskies, Kelly served as the pitching coach at LSU in 2022 and held the same position at Arizona State the two seasons before.
During the 2022 campaign, he helped the Tigers to a 40-22 record and their 34th trip to the NCAA Tournament. Kelly’s pitching staff totaled 610 strikeouts to only 220 walks in 554 innings, while holding opponents to a .240 average.
While working as an assistant alongside Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley at Arizona State, Kelly guided a pitching staff that helped the Sun Devils to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, despite losing all three weekend starters and closer. In the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, Kelly oversaw a pitching staff that recorded a 3.56 ERA compared to a 4.93 mark the season prior.
Before working at Arizona State, Kelly spent seven seasons as the pitching coach with Washington, where he was named the 2018 D1Baseball.com National Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the Huskies to their first College World Series appearance. During his tenure, he worked with 15 MLB Draft picks, developed the 2016 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year in Troy Rallings and helped the program to a top-10 recruiting class in 2016.
Prior to arriving in Seattle, Kelly was the pitching coach at Cal Poly from 2007-12. In his first season in San Luis Obispo, he produced two pitchers who were selected in the top-five rounds of the draft, while his 2011 staff recorded the lowest ERA in the school's 17-year existence at the Division I level.
Kelly began his four-year college coaching career under Meggs at Chico State, where as the pitching coach he helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back Division II College World Series berths. His 2005 Chico State staff compiled the sixth-best ERA in the nation.
Prior to coaching at Chico State, Kelly spent one season (2004) in baseball operations at Cal Poly and one season (2003) coaching at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He also coached summer college teams from 2002-04, helping both the San Luis Obispo Blues and the Anchorage Bucs to the National Baseball Congress World Series.
Kelly was a pitcher at Cal Poly in 1999, and after redshirting in 2000, he went on to pitch at Cuesta College in 2001 and at Missouri Valley College in 2002. He is a 1998 graduate of St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, Calif.
Kelly is married to his wife Tracy and together they have a daughter Peyton and son Cade.
The Drive
Monday, September 15
Notre Dame Postgame: Mike Elko
Sunday, September 14
Notre Dame Postgame: Marcel Reed
Sunday, September 14
Notre Dame Postgame: Nate Boerkircher
Sunday, September 14
