JACKSONVILLE—Jacksonville State Head Football Coach Charles Kelly has hired Taylor Housewright as the new tight ends coach.
 
Housewright spent last season at Georgia Southern with new offensive coordinator Clint Trickett, serving as a senior analyst. He spent the prior three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at FCS powerhouse Montana State, finishing second nationally in scoring and rushing during the 2022 season. MSU played for the FCS championship during the 2021 season.
 
He also got the chance to begin the development of quarterback Tommy Mellott, the 2024 Walter Payton Award winner and FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year. Mellott passed for 1,698 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 1,071 yards and 13 scores splitting time at quarterback with Sean Chambers, a two-time All-American, during the 2022 season.
 
He also spent time at Oregon as an analyst for Joe Moorhead and also worked with Moorhead as a quality control coach at Mississippi State in 2019. Housewright spent the prior season as an offensive graduate assistant at Wyoming working with running backs and tight ends. 
 
The former Ashland quarterback finished fifth in the Harlon Hill balloting in 2012 and was a graduate assistant at Miami (Ohio) following his playing career, then coached receivers at Wittenberg before returning to Ashland to coach receivers for a season followed by a year with the secondary. 
 
Jax State is coming off their third-straight nine-win season, back-to-back bowl game appearances, and the 2024 Conference USA championship.