Dirk Kelly has twenty-seven years of coaching experience at both the high school and collegiate level. Throughout both levels, Kelly has shown a tremendous amount of success, as he accumulated three-hundred eighty (380) career wins, and will look to bring his knowledge and success to Centenary University as the Head Coach. Kelly served as the Assistant Men's Basketball Coach in the 2022-23 season.
Career Highlights
High School (Newton HS – 21 Seasons, Morris Knolls – 3 Seasons, Roxbury HS – 2 Seasons)
·       7x Conference Champs
·       1x County Champs (1999)
·       1x Group 2 Sectional Champs (First and only championship in Newton HS history – 2017)
·       8x Group 2 Section 1 Semi-Finals Appearances
·       6x Group 2 Section 1 Finals Appearances
College (Sussex County CC – 1 Season)
·       Set single season win record
·       1x NJAC Semi-Finals Appearance
·       20th ranked Offense in the nation Division 3
·       15th ranked Defense in the nation Division 3.
Professional Accolades
·       Who’s Who of American Teachers (1995 - 2000, 2003-07)
·       Coach of the Year for West Jersey - Star Ledger (’96)
·       Coach of the Year for West Jersey - N.J. Herald (’96)
·       Coach of the Year - Daily Record (’98)
·       Coach of the Year - Mugs Media (’12)
·       Coach of the Year - Mugs Media (’16)
·       Coach of the Year - Mugs Media (‘17)
·       Coach of the Year for West Jersey - NJ Herald (‘17)
·       Coach of the Year - NJ.com Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (‘18)
Before Centenary
Before coaching, Kelly was a four year member of the basketball team at Fairleigh Dickinson University – Florham under the late Roger Kindell from 1982-86). At FDU, Kelly was a captain in his senior season, a 1986 All-MAC Honorable Mention, and was selected to the NJ College Senior All-Star Game in 1986. Kelly earned a B.A. in History at FDU in 1986.
Post-Grad, Kelly attended Mississippi College School of Law for one semester before making the decision to pursue a career in teaching and coaching, which would pay off tremendously. Kelly would then attend Rutgers University – Newark to earn a teaching certification, and would go on to teach social studies from 1989-20 (Newton HS – 11 years, Roxbury HS – 20 years). In ’01, Kelly would earn his MATL from Nova Southeastern University. Throughout his teaching career, Kelly was a seven-time teacher of the year nominee (’04, ’07, ’11, ’12, ’18, ’19, ’20).
Personal Life
Married to his wife Jaqueline Kelly of thirty-two years. Together, Jaqueline and Dirk have three sons (Thomas, Steven, and Daniel) and reside in Newton, NJ. Thomas is an RPI Grad, who lives in Quincy, Massachusetts with his partner Brian. Steven attended U Penn Vet School where he obtained his Doctorate and lives in Philadelphia, PA with his fiance Meghan. Daniel is a graduate of Rutgers University - New Brunswick.
