Michael Kelly navigated a turbulent yet prosperous time in his eight-year tenure as USF’s athletic director, culminating in the genesis of one of the biggest developments in university history. 

Kelly, 54, made a lateral move to intraconference for Navy on June 4, becoming the school’s third civilian athletic director. 

Kelly oversaw significant advancements in USF’s athletics infrastructure, growing the Bulls’ athletic budget and infrastructure while making key hires for the university’s biggest sports. 

He became USF’s seventh athletic director in 2018, taking over a department slumping in its biggest sports and still without plans for an on-campus stadium. 

Since then, the university’s athletic department has grown in size – both financially and structurally. 

USF’s athletic spending ballooned to $95.4 million in 2024, according to financial records. It’s nearly double the $53.5 million spent when Kelly arrived in 2018, according to USA Today data. 

He also oversaw a significant investment in athletics’ presence on campus. 

USF completed a $3-million football locker room and office renovation in 2021, and opened its $22-million indoor practice facility the following year. Track and field and volleyball facilities were also given eight-figure facelifts. 

The biggest development is the construction of USF’s on-campus stadium. The USF Campus Stadium Planning Committee was led by Kelly, alongside Jay Stroman, who is serving as the university’s interim Athletic Director. 

The stadium is set to open for the 2027 football season. The Board of Trustees approved a $407-million price tag for the project and related infrastructure in April. 

Clearing of the stadium site began in mid-May, according to the BOT’s timeline. 

Related: USF approves $407 million price tag for stadium, related infrastructure

Kelly also oversaw the introduction of two new varsity sports – women’s lacrosse and beach volleyball. 

Lacrosse made it to the conference championship in its first season. Beach volleyball will begin play next spring. 

One of Kelly’s biggest moves at USF may have come in January 2022, when he doled out extensions to 14 USF head coaches. 

These included three of USF’s highest-paid coaches at the time  – football’s Jeff Scott, men’s basketball’s Brian Gregory and baseball’s Billy Mohl. 

All three were extended to 2026, but were dismissed long beforehand. 

Scott was fired that November after a 1-8 start. Gregory was dismissed four months later after USF’s fourth straight losing season. Mohl was fired in 2024 after his third straight losing season. 

Related: USF Athletics extends contracts for 14 head coaches

Their successors went on to have much more success. 

Football head coach Alex Golesh led the Bulls to back-to-back winning seasons – culminating in bowl victories – for the first time since 2017. 

Mitch Hannahs led baseball to its most wins since 2017 before being knocked out in the semifinals of the conference tournament in May. 

Amir Abdur-Rahim led USF men’s basketball to unprecedented heights, winning a school-record 25 games. The Bulls were a ranked program for the first time in history. 

Abdur-Rahim died last October shortly before tipping off his second season. Assistant coach Ben Fletcher had the interim tag last season. 

Abdur-Rahim’s permanent replacement, Bryan Hodgson, was Kelly’s final hire at USF. 

Hodgson has been with the Bulls for less than three months, but he’s already secured them the 25th-ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to 247 Sports composite rankings — tying 2013 for the highest-ranked recruiting class of all time. 

Other coaches extended by Kelly are still employed by the university, including women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez, track and field and cross country’s Erik Jenkins and softball’s Ken Eriksen. 

Kelly also navigated the origins of name, image and likeness, which first went into effect in 2021. He departed USF days before a judge approved the multi-billion-dollar House v. NCAA settlement, which allows schools to directly share revenue with athletes. 

The revenue limit is expected to start around $20.5 million, which will begin in July. The American Athletic Conference approved a plan in May to require each member to share at least $10 million in benefits, with the exception of federally funded Army and Navy. 

However, Kelly and USF Athletics seemed to be proactive about this move that will redefine college sports. 

Kelly said USF planned to be “as aggressive as it can” in paying athletes in an interview with Green, Gold, and Bold last July. USF rolled out an NIL Task Force in 2024 that manages NIL marketing and growth, and is led by Associate Athletic Director Andrew Warsaw.

Kelly attended a Florida Board of Governors meeting in January with Michael Alford, Florida State’s Athletic Director, to petition for a change in state law to allow universities to provide more funding for athletic departments, according to ESPN’s Andrea Adelson. 

USF’s next Athletic Director will be tasked with navigating this new era in college sports. They will also have to negotiate USF’s next athletic partnership. 

The university inked an eight-year deal with Adidas in 2017 to become the university’s official apparel and footwear sponsor. The deal runs through the 2025-2026 season. 

Sponsorship deals vary across the state. UCF, Florida and Florida State are sponsored by Nike, while Miami partners with Adidas.