Courtesy Framingham State Sports Information

Boston, Mass. – Framingham State University head football coach Tom Kelley has been selected the 2011 Division II-III Head Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston.  Kelley will receive the award on Thursday, January 12^th, 2012 at the Gridiron Club’s annual Bob Whelan College Football Awards Night at the Westin Hotel in Waltham.

In 2011 Kelley guided the Rams to their first New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division Title with a 6-1 divisional record and their first appearance in the NEFC Championship game where they were defeated in overtime by Western New England.  The Rams finished the 2011 season 7-4 overall and captured their second straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Championship.

Kelley just completed his fifth season in his second stint as the Rams head coach and has a 35-42-1 overall coaching record. Kelley’s first tenure as the Rams head man ran from 1982-84. 

Prior to Kelley resuming the head coaching duties in 2007, the Rams were just 4-41 in the previous five seasons.  In Kelley’s five seasons (2007-2011) the Rams have an overall record of 28-38 including a 9-2 season in 2010 that set a new Framingham State record for wins in a season and saw the Rams make their first post season appearance which resulted in an overtime victory in an ECAC Bowl game.  Kelley was named the NEFC Bogan Division Coach of the Year in 2010 as well as being named the Master Sports Coach of the Year.

This is the second year in a row that the Rams will have someone honored by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston at the Bob Whelan College Football Awards Night as senior wide receiver James McCarthy was honored in 2010 with the Joe Zabilski Award.