Harding University roared its way to the 2025 NCAA Division II National Championship game amidst a 15-win, tour de force season.
In the process, then-defensive coordinator Roddy Mote was named FootballScoop's NCAA Division II Coordinator of the Year as voted by his peers. Ball knowers.
Now the head coach at Harding University, Mote is adding another FootballScoop award-winner to his coaching staff, FootballScoop has learned.
Sources tell FootballScoop that 2025 NAIA Coordinator of the Year Eric Kelly has been hired as Harding's new recruiting coordinator / slots coach for Mote's debut campaign as the program's head coach.
Kelly guided the NAIA Friends University offense to a record-setting 2025 campaign that saw the team amass 704 total points and 95 -- NINETY-FIVE -- TOUCHDOWNS.
Mote was honored as the top coordinator in NCAA D-II football for his defensive unit's elite performance. Harding allowed just 204 points in 16 games -- a scant 12.75 points per game.
Now the two will join forces at Harding in 2026. Kelly, a Harding University alum, arrived at Friends on the heels of three seasons running the offense at Bethel College in Kansas.
Mote, with decades of connections to Harding and also head coaching experience at the prep ranks for Harding Academy, moves into the role of head coach for his first collegiate head-coaching opportunity.