The Mount Allison Mounties have added a familiar face to their coaching staff for the 2025 season.
The school announced this week that former Saskatchewan Roughriders’ play-caller Kelly Jeffrey would be re-joining the team as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and football operations consultant. He previously served as the program’s head coach from 2008 until 2015.
Jeffrey spent just one season as the Riders’ offensive coordinator in 2023, suffering through the loss of starting quarterback Trevor Harris to a tibial plateau fracture after just five games. The team was still fifth in the league with 348.2 yards per game, but finished eighth in scoring with 21.5 points per game, as they missed the playoffs with a 6-12 record. He was not retained following the season.
Prior to his promotion to playcaller, Jeffrey spent one season as the Riders’ running backs coach. He previously served as special teams coordinator for the Toronto Argonauts in 2016 and quarterbacks coach for Edmonton Elks during the cancelled 2020 season.
Jeffrey first arrived at Mount Allison in 2006 as the offensive coordinator, his first exposure to Canadian football. He was promoted to head coach two years later and posted a 26-38 record over eight seasons, but had the Mounties peak towards the end of his tenure.
The team won consecutive Loney Bowl titles as the Atlantic University Sport conference champions in 2013 and 2014, coming up just short in 2015. After an undefeated 2014 regular season, he was honoured with the Frank Tindall Trophy as the USports coach of the year — an award for which he was nominated three times.
Prior to his time in the Maritimes, Jeffrey spent four seasons as the head coach of Mayville State University in North Dakota, where he went 6-34. His collegiate coaching career also includes positions at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, the University of San Diego, and Northern State University.
In April, Jeffrey was hired as the director of coach and official development for Football New Brunswick. A month later, his former player, assistant, and later successor, Scott Brady, returned to Sackville for a second stint as Mount Allison’s head coach, setting the stage for a reunion.
The Mounties finished the 2024 season with a 1-7 record, missing the playoffs. It was their worst finish to a season since 2011, when they went winless. They open the 2025 season on Saturday, August 23 when they host the Bishop’s Gaiters.
