Jamill Kelly, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, joined the Stanford wrestling staff in September 2014. He enters his third season as the associate head coach in 2016-17.
Last season, Kelly helped lead the Cardinal to an 11-4 dual record and tied a program-best with five wrestlers qualifying for the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo. Redshirt sophomore Jim Wilson (165 pounds) finished eighth at the national tournament to become the 17th All-American in program history. Wilson and redshirt freshman Nathan Butler (285 pounds) both won Pac-12 titles at the conference tournament in Corvallis, Ore. Wilson is the first Cardinal wrestler to win back-to-back conference crowns since Tanner Gardner (2007-08).
Kelly comes to The Farm after serving two years as an assistant at North Carolina State (2012-14). In 2014, NC State produced its sixth individual national champion as 285-pounder Nick Gwiazdowski knocked off the tournament’s No. 1 seed for the title. Additionally with the assistance of Kelly, the Wolfpack posted back-to-back nationally-ranked recruiting classes in 2013 and 2014.
Kelly, originally from Atwater, Calif., has also spent time at Cal Poly and Harvard as an assistant coach. While at Cal Poly, four Mustang wrestlers qualified for the NCAA championships with two garnering All-America honors.
“As a coach, Jamill's track record for developing elite student-athletes speaks for itself,” said Stanford head coach Jason Borrelli. "North Carolina State and Cal Poly had wrestlers in the NCAA finals while Jamill was on staff, and Harvard also produced All-Americans during his tenure."
Kelly, who was a two-year starter and team captain at Oklahoma State, travelled to the 2012 Olympics in London as part of the support staff for USA Wrestling. He also coached the U.S. Junior World Freestyle Team in 2007 and on the U.S. Freestyle Tour Team in 2006.
Following the 2013 season, Kelly was named the Social Media Assistant Coach of the Year by Elite Level Sports Marketing and the National Wrestling Coaches Association.