Jim Kelly (coach)
Jim Kelly (James Dennis Kelly) (July 3, 1893 – July 11, 1972) was an American coach in football, basketball, and track, and a college athletics administrator. He coached at DePaul University and the University of Minnesota, and he led the U.S. track team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
He was born on a farm near Fonda, Iowa, the third of five children. In high school, he played football and basketball and ran track. He studied at Buena Vista College, Morningside College, and the University of South Dakota. After graduating from South Dakota, he returned to Fonda as an all-sports high school coach, then to Buena Vista as a college coach in basketball, football, and track.
At Buena Vista, his teams were successful, including an Iowa Conference basketball championship in 1925–26. He left Buena Vista in 1926 for DePaul University. From 1929 to 1936, he was DePaul’s head basketball coach, posting a 99–22 record. He was also DePaul’s head football coach and athletic director.
In 1937, Kelly moved to the University of Minnesota as head track coach. He built a strong program, and the Golden Gophers won the NCAA track and field team title in 1948, Minnesota’s only national title in the sport. He helped develop the “Minnesota Whip,” a fast and precise discus technique used by world-record holders Bob Fitch and Fortune Gordien.
In 1956, Kelly served as head coach of the United States track team at the Melbourne Olympics, where the U.S. won 15 gold medals. He retired as Minnesota’s track coach in 1963 but stayed active as a track official. He died July 11, 1972, in Woodland Hills, California, at age 79.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:52 (CET).