Mike Kelly, fired after only one year as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, is trying to get another job in the Canadian Football League, albeit one without nearly as high profile as his last, sources tell Sportsnet.ca.
Kelly is one of four or five candidates, the Calgary Stampeders have an interest in for their running backs coach, which became vacant after Rick Campbell resigned to become assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Edmonton Eskimos on Wednesday.
Sources say, Kelly may have already interviewed for the Stamps’ job, one in which he is eminently qualified as a coach whose specialty is offence. He has worked in a variety of roles on that side of the ball in his lengthy career.
Kelly’s ascension to head coach lasted only one year, after the Bombers’ board of directors fired him after the 2009 season, which saw him involved in various confrontations with the media, the fans and some players.
The dismissal happened on the same day Kelly was charged with domestic violence. The charge was later dropped, after Kelly agreed to take a counseling course for anger management and the Bombers’ agreed on a buyout.
There is a link between the Stamps’ current organization and Kelly, that being team President Lyle Bauer. He and Kelly are longtime friends. Bauer, in his former role as president of the Bombers, authorized Kelly’s hiring.
Another candidate for the job is Mike Gibson, who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He voluntarily left the organization because of a relationship with a woman from Calgary.