Gulf Coast Hall of Famer Kelley dies at 59

PERKINSTON — Danny Kelley, a Mississippi Gulf Coast national championship quarterback who was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, passed away Nov. 11.

Kelley, 59, was a member of the 1984 Bulldogs squad that went 13-0 and won the NJCAA title. After a redshirt season, he returned to lead the 1986 team to the conference championship. 

Kelley was a standout quarterback at D'Iberville before coming to Perkinston. As a freshman, the team was rated No. 1 by the NJCAA when it met the No. 4 Harford Owls in the East Bowl at Harford, Maryland, on December 1, 1984. When they defeated the Harford Owls 21-7, the Bulldogs were named 1984 NJCAA national champions by the polling organizations.

In 1986, Gulf Coast earned a spot in the conference playoffs and beat Itawamba at Fulton, setting up a showdown against nationally-ranked Northwest Mississippi. Down 13-7 in the third quarter, Kelley hit Tyrone Jones for a 14-yard touchdown pass that won the championship and a subsequent invitation to the East Bowl in Boone, N.C. 

Again trailing 13-7, Kelley found Jones again for a touchdown pass with 34 seconds left to beat Lees-McRae.

Kelley went on to earn a degree in physical therapy from the Medical University of South Carolina and built a successful career as a therapist.

Visitation for Kelly will take place Nov. 22, starting at 11 a.m. at Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Biloxi. Funeral services begin at noon, with burial at D'Iberville Memorial Park.

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