John Kelly chooses Tennessee and doesn't mind being different

2015 Oak Park athlete John Kelly has already lived in three states and doesn’t mind being a little bit different than everybody else. Today, Kelly verbally committed to play at the University of Tennessee.

“One thing about me is that I wanted to be different. I don’t have a problem making my mark somewhere else,” Kelly, 5-foot-10 and 203-pounds, said. “I’ve been doing it for my whole life; this will be the fourth place I’ve called home. I was born in Illinois and moved to Minnesota. Then I moved to Michigan and now I will be playing in Tennessee.

Last weekend, January 16-18, Kelly visited the Knoxville, Tennessee campus for the very first time. He had previously visited his other final schools multiple time, but wanted to see what Tennessee had to offer in person before committing one way or the other.

“I had a chance to get a good look at all the other schools; Tennessee was my final school that I didn’t really get a good look at. Tennessee was an amazing place, great campus. Me deciding to go there is putting myself in a really good situation, even after football,” Kelly said.

From the spring until November, Kelly had Minnesota and Michigan State as co-leaders. Those two stuck in his final four (along with Michigan) until the very end.

“It was between [Tennessee], Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota. I think Tennessee got the edge when I got to visit down there and see the opportunities presented to me. I definitely want to have a chance to compete against the best of the best in the SEC,” Kelly said.

Although Kelly had not visited until this past weekend, he had been building a strong relationship with head coach Butch Jones and running backs’ coach, Robert Gillespie.

“I have a really good relationship with coach Gillespie and head coach Jones. The coaching staff there, a lot of them are from Michigan. They’ve been hoping to get some kids from Michigan to come down there. I’m not afraid to go a certain distance away from home,” Kelly said.

Kelly thinks Tennessee’s offensive schemes fit him perfectly. Their multiple formations and zone runs are similar to what he has run at Oak Park.

“Oh man; they do have multiple offensive styles, I can see myself fitting in really well. They run a lot of inside zone sweeps. Also, they give their running backs the ball a lot,” Kelly said. “I know in the SEC you have to have at least more than two running backs so I’m going to be in a pretty good situation as far as playing time is concerned.”

Official visits to Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota have all been cancelled by Kelly. He will not step foot on any other campuses and will sign with the Volunteers on February 4.

“No more visits. I’m gonna commit and sign with Tennessee,” Kelly said.