DARRYL DYCK
It's been almost five months since the series of events that turned Mike Kelly's world upside down.
Kelly began the day of Dec. 17, 2009, at his Bridgeport, Pa., home as the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. By the conclusion of the day, he had been arrested for assault and harassment in a domestic dispute and been fired from what he thought of as his dream job.
"It was without a doubt the most difficult time of my life," Kelly recalled over lunch this week in Toronto. "I spent 30 years developing a pretty good reputation as a guy and as a coach, and in 20 minutes it all evaporated. I had to tell family members that everything I'd worked for was gone.
"I would say I was technically in a state of shock for 48 hours. I didn't clean up anything in my house. I didn't turn a radio or TV on. I was completely silent for 48 hours."
By the time the charges against Kelly were dropped in mid-January, the Bombers had long since moved on. The CFL team said Kelly had been fired due to his performance in his rookie campaign as a head coach (the team went 7-11 in 2009). But Kelly insists he had been told - before his arrest - he would be returning for a second season.
"I was told that I was coming back," Kelly said. "I had to write a year-end report. [Former Bombers president Lyle Bauer]told me, '[the board]has approved you and you're coming back.' They wanted me to take some media training and I had no problem with that. I had set that up with the league office."
According to Kelly, the circumstances that led to his arrest began when a former partner entered his home and began hitting him while he was on the telephone for a conference call to discuss Bauer's departure. The situation began to escalate, he said.
"It was to a point that the only means of getting it under control was to call 9-1-1. I wasn't going to use any force," he said. "I didn't do anything."
Kelly's arrest came shortly after the conclusion of a tumultuous first season as head coach in Winnipeg, during which controversy seemed to follow him at every turn. He sparred with the local media, some of his own players and opposing players as well.
"I tried to do too much too fast, but that's my nature," he said. "[With the media]I used the term that we were going to control the message. And as soon as I used that term, it was game on."
Kelly's Bombers rebounded from a slow start and just fell short of the playoffs. But whatever progress was made on the field was drowned out by the controversy chronicled in the Winnipeg media, which in turn fuelled concern on the Bombers board that the team's brand was being damaged. It seemed as though his arrest was a final straw for the board.
Kelly said the charges against him are being expunged in Pennsylvania. He wants to bury the past and think about the future, which he hopes will include a return to the CFL.
He said he has discussed some CFL coaching opportunities this off-season, but understands why a cooling-off period might be best.
Some days, he still can't believe the opportunity got away from him.
"I had the job I loved and wanted," Kelly said. "The part I want to get across is that I apologize to the Winnipeg fans for not finishing the job I came to do. … I'm looking forward to the future. I know I have value and can help an organization. This is my first step to coming back."