New SMU commit ready to fulfill dream to honor iconic grandfather

The word "icon" should never be just thrown around, but to many in the city of Lubbock, the word fits Louis Kelley. If you don't know football in Lubbock, chances are, you still know the name.

If you do know football in Lubbock ... yet you don't know the name ... Izaiah Kelley questions if you truly know football in Lubbock.

"Everything he accomplished, every goal ... he was the man in Lubbock," said Izaiah, a Lubbock Coronado 2021 linebacker. "I just hope to do all he did one day."

Louis Kelley's football resume stretched all the way back to the 1950s. For more than six decades, he made himself well known as a player and a coach. In a 30-year coaching span, he won 240 games and 17 district championships, and he was named to the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor. He also was inducted into the New Mexico State University Hall of Fame.

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Kelley died in September at the age of 81. His legacy lives on in Izaiah, a proud grandson and a name SMU fans will get to know in due time. Izaiah committed to the Mustangs Monday evening.

"I know he'd be proud," Izaiah said of his grandfather. "Whether I won a game, lost a game or got an offer, he'd be happy no matter what. I know he had goals for me to accomplish."

SMU was Izaiah's first offer, as he was rewarded in June after earning second-team all-district honors as a sophomore for Coronado. Recruited to SMU by defensive tackles coach Randall Joyner, Izaiah said he was excited for himself -- and he swelled with pride for his grandfather -- when he let the staff know about his decision on Monday.

"I knew it was for me from the very start, when they first offered," Izaiah said of SMU. "I started looking at the education, and it was perfect for me. I'll get to go to school and will get good a job when I'm done with football."

At 6-2 and 175 pounds, Izaiah is built more like a safety but has lateral movement and hitting ability like a linebacker. He's a play-to-the-whistle type of athlete who could fit into a similar hybrid mold as Pat Nelson.

Izaiah also is a disciplined football player -- something his grandfather instilled in him.

"He really pushed me to the max, to where I can be the best," Izaiah said. "He helped me with football and homework. He was there for me since day 1.

"He told me two things: Work out, work out some more, go to sleep and work out some more. That, and to keep up my grades."

The younger Kelley currently has 84 tackles, a sack, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery through 10 games this season. Coronado opens postseason play on Friday.

The elder Kelley was an all-state running back in the now-defunct Prairie View Interscholastic League in 1954 and 1955. After becoming the first black player to integrate at Cisco Junior College in 1956, he went on to play college ball at New Mexico State and win the 1959 Sun Bowl over North Texas -- then North Texas State.

He went on to become a football coach, starting at Dunbar High School in 1970. Five years later, Kelley took over head coaching duties at Estacado High School, where he won 15 district titles in a 25-year career. The 1983 team was a Class 4A state runner-up.

On Izaiah's helmet, as well as the rest of the helmets for Coronado players, is an "LK" sticker, honoring his grandfather. He was a true icon.

And now, his grandson will have the opportunity to write his own chapter of the family legacy.

"I think it's a great situation for me," Izaiah said of choosing SMU. "I know he'd be proud."