Mike Kellar is in his seventh season as the Head Coach for the Glenville State Football program in 2025. Kellar is the 25th head coach to lead the Pioneers.
After an (0-2) start to the season, Kellar and the Pioneers went (7-2) in their last nine games to finish the 2024 campaign (7-4, 7-2 MEC). GSU had their best finish since joining the MEC in 2013 with a 2nd place finish. In total, 11 Pioneers earned All-Conference honors, headlined by three All-MEC First Team selections. Edge rusher Jamair Diaz was named MEC Defensive Player of the Year while earning Don Hansen First Team All-American, AP Second Team All-American, AFCA Second Team All-American, D2 Elite 100 and being a Cliff Harris Award Finalist. Jaiden McLendon-Parker was also named the league's Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Glenville State once again finished with a winning record in 2023, going (6-4, 5-4 MEC) with marquee wins over Notre Dame College and Frostburg State. The second-consecutive winning season for the Pioneers produced nine All-Conference performers, with two landing on the All-MEC First Team.
The 2022 season saw Glenville post a (7-4) overall record and go (6-4) in the Mountain East Conference. For the second time in his stint at Glenville, Coach Kellar secured a seven-season. Since 2000, the Pioneers have only had five seasons with seven wins or better. GSU had one of the best passing offenses in the MEC averaging 248.5 yards in the air. In total, nine Pioneers would make All-MEC Teams during the 2022 campaign.
In the Fall of 2021, Kellar lead the Pioneers to a record of 3-7. The Pioneers averaged 21.00 points per contest on the year. After a tough third year, Kellar and the Pioneers look to take a huge step forward in the 2022 season.
In year one with the Pioneers, Kellar helped GSC go 7-4 overall and 6-4 in MEC league play and finished 6th overall. They had wins over the No. 5 team in the country, Notre Dame College, and the leagues runner-up in Frostburg State. Under Kellar, the Pioneers averaged 23.45 points per contest on the year. His 7-4 record was the best record dating back to 2015 in which the Pioneers went 7-4 also that season.
Year two was a challenge due to COVID-19. The Pioneers took to the field in the Spring of 2021 and played just four contests. In that shortened season the Pioneers went 0-4.
Kellar's overall record is 81-62 (.765) as a head coach at the NCAA Division II level with stops at California (PA), Concord, and Lenoir-Rhyne (NC). Before breaking into the head coaching ranks, he made his mark as offensive coordinator for a trio of NCAA Division II playoff squads, including a pair of California (PA) teams that advanced to the national semifinals. As a head coach or assistant coach, he has been part of seven conference championship teams.
He comes to the Pioneers after serving as the Offensive Coordinator of the West Liberty University Hilltoppers for the 2018 season. The Hilltoppers averaged 25.0 points per game and 327.5 yards per contest this past season.
The Shinnston, W.Va. native was a starting quarterback at Glenville State in 1989 and later at Fairmont State during the early 1990's. After graduating from Fairmont, Kellar traded his playing cleats for a headset and whistle and spent the next eight seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Falcons. He helped lead Fairmont to a pair of WVIAC championships.
Kellar left Fairmont for a two-year stint as offensive coordinator at Northern Michigan before beginning a record-setting five-year run as offensive coordinator at California (PA) in 2004 when the Vulcans rolled to four straight PSAC West titles, two NCAA Division II regional crowns, and picked up two ECAC Lambert Trophies.
In 2009, Kellar made his head coaching debut and executed an impressive turnaround with the Concord University program that had gone just 1-21 over the previous two years. Kellar posted a 6-5 record in his first year in Athens and led the Mountain Lions to an 8-3 mark in 2010 with the No. 4-ranked offense in the nation.
Kellar then returned to California (PA) in 2011 as associate head coach under the legendary John Luckhardt and took the head coaching reins when Luckhardt retired after the 2011 season. Kellar posted an impressive 31-12 record in four years at the helm of the Vulcans, once again producing some of the most prolific offensive teams in the region, before moving on to Lenoir-Rhyne in 2015.
California averaged more than 30 points a game in nine of Kellar's 10 seasons as head coach or offensive coordinator with the PSAC West powerhouse. His teams saw seven of their players earn All-American status while at California.
A 1994 graduate of Fairmont State, Kellar also holds a master's degree in Safety Management from West Virginia University. He and his wife Missy have four children, Diedra, Jarrod, Anthony, and Jacob.
