Upper Iowa University Athletics

Paul "Spike" Kelly was a local youth and active in basketball and baseball while at Fayette High School. He entered Upper Iowa and played basketball, football and baseball, winning eleven letters in the three major sports. He graduated in 1924, and later was given a Doctorate of Humanities from UIU. In 1941, he received an M.A. from the State University of Iowa, and in 1974 was the recipient of a UIU Alumni Achievement Award.

He taught for seven years at Clinton High School, Clinton, Indiana, coaching both football and basketball. In football, he claimed the state title in 1924, won the Big Ten Indian Conference Championship in ’27, ’28 and ’29. He own the Wabash Valley Title five consecutive years; ’37, ’38, ’39, ’40 and ’41. He had 51 straight victories in conference without a defeat. Spike’s teams won the Southern Indian Conference Titles in ’36, ’37 and ’38, and he claimed the state title in 1937 when he had nine straight wins. Also while at Sullivan, his teams won three sectional and one Southern Indian Conference basketball titles.

He completed his coaching career at Riley High School where he finished second in the Northern Indian Conference in ’44, ’45 and ’51. He won the Title in the Eastern Division of N.I.A.C. in ’54, and finished second in the State Polls in ’54.

While at Riley, he also coached baseball, winning co-championships in the Eastern Division of the Conference in ’48 and ’53, and he won the Conference in ’57.

Several fine honors were given to “Spike” during his coaching career. He was inducted into the Phi Delta Kappa in 1948. He was inducted into the Indian Football Coaches Hall of Fame. The South Bend Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the Hall of Fame presented him with an Award for his contribution to Amateur football. One last thing that “Spike” is proud of is that he helped over two hundred boys, his and other athletes, to go to college, sending over thirty-five to his Alma Mater.