University of Tennessee Athletics
Kelly Plays To Leave A Mark On Vols
September 15, 2015 | Football
By Brian Rice
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
As he has worked to accomplish that goal, the sophomore has impressed coaches and built relationships with teammates that go far deeper than helping out in double coverage or calling out the correct adjustments at the line.
A Biomedical Engineering major, he bonded well with quarterback Joshua Dobbs over the academic rigors of their chosen fields.
“T.K. and I, we’re pretty much inseparable,” Dobbs said. “Some people say we’re like twins. We have similar majors, off the field we’re always together.”
They are also members of UT’s Engineering Club and FCA together and attend weekly church services and student worship groups.
The off-field relationship between the two also has also proven to push them in pursuits away from the game the same way on-field competition does.
“He’s a competitor,” Dobbs said. “He doesn’t want to lose in anything, so we’re always competing with each other and pushing each other to be better people on and off the field.”
The second-generation Volunteer started making the mark he was looking for a year ago in a freshman season that saw him lead all Southeastern Conference freshmen with three interceptions. The year concluded with SEC All-Freshman Team honors and had him poised to take a big step forward in 2015.
But surgery to have his tonsils removed during training camp led to an infection during game week preparation for the opener against Bowling Green. The infection proved to be so severe, he required a hospital stay for much of the week leading up to the opener.
Though he was unable to practice physically, Kelly used his time in the hospital to prepare himself mentally. He immersed himself in intense film study of both himself and of the Falcons. He was encouraged on by visits from his teammates, including daily visits from Dobbs.
“A lot of my teammates came by to see me at the hospital and every time they came, it made me miss them even more and realize how important it is to be a part of this program,” Kelly said. “They checked in and made sure I was doing my film study. I promised them I would be ready and I couldn’t let them down.”
That he came back two days later to play against Bowling Green was no surprise to Dobbs. Nor was it a surprise a week later when he intercepted two passes against Oklahoma.
“When you get T.K. out there, he’s always looking to make a play,” Dobbs said. “He comes down on the run game looking to make a strip. In the pass game, he’s a step ahead of the offense reading the quarterback’s eyes, understanding leverage, splits and making picks.”
But Kelly was not focused on the personal accomplishments from the game, he was focused on the result.
“I just want to be there to make plays for my team,” Kelly said. “Whether I make plays or not, I want to win the game more than anything. I would trade my two interceptions for a win any day because that’s what it’s all about.”
His teammate in the defensive backfield, Cameron Sutton, did not find Kelly’s response to his performance odd at all. Kelly is known as a team-first leader in the meeting room.
“He doesn’t take anything for granted,” Sutton said. “He does the right things on and off the field. He’s a great kid from a great family. That starts with his parents and it trickles down to the rest of us as a football team.”
That family includes his father, Todd Kelly Sr., a defensive lineman at Tennessee from 1989-92, and first-round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft.
The family legacy is one reason why the program, and his role in it, mean so much to him.
“My goal is to be remembered for bringing Tennessee back,” Kelly said. “It’s the same thing Coach Jones wants, it’s the same thing the other guys in this program want. We want to leave a mark.
“I take pride in the Tennessee football program. My family is already a part of it, I was born into the Tennessee football family. My blood runs orange and I could never see myself anywhere else. Now that I’m here, I feel like I need to leave a mark.”
