Baseball
- Title:
- Head Coach
Jason Kelly, who previously spent seven seasons as the highly successful pitching coach at the University of Washington, spent two seasons in his return to Montlake as the Huskies head coach.
During his two-year stint, Kelly's Huskies garnered a 54-51-1 record, including 27-32 in Pac-12 play.
After making waves in year one, Washington got off to a slow start in 2024, eventually finishing the season with a 19-31-1 record. Nevertheless, the Huskies rebounded down the stretch to secure a bid to the Pac-12 Tournament. Kelly's second season was highlighted by a series win at No. 14 Texas and a 2-1 series victory over eventual Pac-12 regular season and tournament champions, Arizona.
Under Kelly's tutelage, sophomore slugger Aiva Arquette ascended to soaring heights, earning his first All-Pac-12 nod in addition to landing on the Pac-12 All-Defense team. Cam Clayton also made headlines by securing the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming the second Husky ever to receive the honor. AJ Guerrero and Grant Cunningham also receided All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention plaudits.
In Kelly's first season at the helm of the UW program, his Huskies defied expectations. Picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, Washington 17-12 league record was good for third in the standings. The Huskies garnered a 35-20 overall record, earning the 12th NCAA Regional bid in program-history. The 35 wins were the second most by a first-year head coach for the Huskies.
Six players from Kelly's inaugural UW squad were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, the second time Washington has 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.
Four Huskies earned All-Pac-12 honors (Cam Clayton, Flesland, Simpson, Tincher), while Josh Emanuels, AJ Guerrero, Matter, Lord and Morales all received an honorable mention nod.
Kelly spent the 2013 through 2019 seasons as the Huskies' pitching coach. He returned to Seattle after having spent the 2022 season as pitching coach at LSU. Before that, he held the same position at Arizona State for two seasons.
In his next-to-last year at Washington, in 2018, he earned D1Baseball.com's National Assistant Coach of the Year, when he helped guide the Huskies to their first-ever trip to the College World Series.
In 2022, he helped lead the LSU Tigers to a 40-22 overall record, a 17-13 record in Southeastern Conference play, and their 34th trip to the NCAA Tournament. His pitching staff struck out 610 batters and walked only 220 in 554 innings, while holding opponents to a .240 batting average.
In 2021, Kelly's final season at Arizona State, he guided a pitching staff that led the Sun Devils to an NCAA Tournament berth, despite injuries to all three of the team's weekend starters and its closer.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, his first at ASU, he helped lead the Devils to a 3.56 team ERA, a precipitous drop from a 4.93 mark the previous year, before his arrival in Tempe.
In his seven seasons as Washington's pitching coach, Kelly mentored 15 MLB draft selections, and, after making just one NCAA Tournament appearance in the 13 seasons prior to Kelly's arrival, the Huskies earned three NCAA berths during his seven seasons.
D1Baseball.com named Kelly the 2018 National Assistant Coach of the Year for his integral role in Washington's drive to its first-ever CWS appearance.
In 2017, Kelly helped the Huskies sign a top-10 recruiting class, and in 2016, he developed and mentored Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-American Troy Rallings.
In 2014, the Huskies achieved their highest national ranking in team history, reaching No. 5 in Baseball America, Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball, with the pitching staff played a huge role in UW's success. The team ERA of 3.11 ranked third in the Pac-12 and was the lowest by the Huskies since 1985.
Before coming to 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 lives in Seattle with his wife Tracy, daughter Peyton and son Cade.
