It’s not always easy to go home.

Especially after making home in a new place for 17 years.

But Kelly Wells is going home.

UPike Athletics Director Kelly Wells was announced the new Athletics Director at Morehead State University this morning.

“I think today’s message is it’s easy to go to a place you love, but it’s gut wrenching to leave a place you love,” Wells said. “That’s kind of where we’re at. We’ve been here going on 17 years as either a coach or athletics director, my wife is deeply rooted in the school system and this is all my son knows is Pikeville. It’s tough, but it’s also a great blessing to go back home. Those that know my history and know my background, Morehead is where everybody in my lineage has graduated from. My father was a basketball coach there and my mother was a secretary for the Dean’s of the university. I met my wife, Shawne, there.  I played basketball at Morehead. My sister met her husband there. It’s been just a life long home for us, while Pikeville has poured into us more than we’ll be able to thank. We’ll take that with us and we’ll take that back to our hometown, hopefully it’ll reflect well on our time here.”

Wells took over as UPike head basketball coach in 2006 and led the Bears to the NAIA National Championship in 2011.

“It’s my recruiting pitch here as well,” Wells said. “Being a part of a national championship is awesome and bringing it to town and sharing it, the value in this place is the people. Our greatest resource is our people. I’ve always said that in recruiting. That’s whey when kids came, I wanted them to bring their families. You have to touch it, you have to feel it and be a part of it.

Wells coached the Bears until 2018 before taking over as Athletics Director.

The athletics department has grown tremendously under Wells.

UPike under Wells’ guidance have started working on new outdoor facilities.

“I think we made progress, no question,” Wells said. “I think I’m super thankful for those who came before me as well. Those who have been with us and supported us through the whole way and when it comes to college and universities, there isn’t really a finish line. We don’t just try to chase a win, I fell like we have always tried to chase being our best version and get better and better. We’ve got great administrators with Dr. Webb and Dr. Worth are really doing a great job of pushing us in a great direction. I was able to come along for the part and give some expert advice on the athletics part of things. When it comes to athletics, you’re only as good as your coaches and they’ve done a great job of representing us the right way. Again, it’s not a finish line, it’s a constant marathon. You just have to keep going and going. Bear Mountain is going to be an absolute positive for the university. We’ve had a lot of success with our minor sports. The Sportsplex has been amazing for us in terms of bowling and archery and wrestling and golf. It’s been very up lifting. I guess my vision is that someone takes the reins and takes value in all of our sports and tries to push them forward and continue by not diminishing the sports that are doing great right now and just bring everybody up. I’m thankful for that and grateful for that. The old adage is that you want to leave things better than you found them, I’m thankful for those who came before me and the job they did. We just tried to be progressive and do the best that we do as best we can moving forward.”

There will be a lot of challenges ahead of Wells stepping into a new role.

He will go from the NAIA to Division I.

“The transition from NAIA to DI is significant,” Wells said. “There is a lot of things that go into place there. The beautiful thing is that there is an entire staff there too. We have a lot of experts in our athletic department and they deal with compliance every day situations. The same things happened here. I didn’t deal with compliance. Our compliance folks dealt with that kind of stuff. There is a learning curve and I’ve got to get in and make sure I understand all of the rules and regulations, but the NAIA really takes a funnel from what the NCAA does and that’s the kind of rules we have. I just have to indoctrinate myself and get used to those; that’s important. As far as developing the whole program, I’m a big believer in that a high tide lifts all boats, so from our rifle program to our men’s basketball program, they have to be uplifted. The ones doing great are like the gold standard cheerleading team. We don’t want to bring them down to raise everybody else up. We want to continue to raise up. Basketball getting a NIT win at Clemson for the first-time ever was huge for the university. It’s like that old Doug Flutie at Boston College, when athletics is good, the entire university gets a good name and you see growth. My approach has always been campus wide. I’m also a business graduate and education graduate, so it’s big for me to see those departments grow. I’ve partnered with our admissions team here and faculty and staff to connect those bridges. That will be the same there, so I’ve got a heavy lift. I understand that, but it’s done with a passion.”

Wells knows what it takes to build successful programs.

And that starts with the coaches and having the right people in the right places.

“It’s just going to be observation, observation and observation,” Wells said. “We just have to take it all in and see what the big picture looks like. The people and coaches that I know there are doing an amazing job, which made it very attractive. It’s’ like a principal at a high school, if you have great teachers the job is super productive. I feel like there is a lot of great coaches there and the administration people there are all great people. That’s what it is all about. We’re in the people business and that’s going to be my first job is to try to continue to develop those relationships and build them and be a gathering. We want all of our alums to come back. My wife is a three-time graduate of Morehead State and I am a two-time graduate. We want to bring all of our alums back in and be a part of what we want to do. Really, it is about assessing all of the situations are and seeing what the best plan of action is going forward. I’m a big believer in that healthy things grow. So one of the things that I want to do is grow in the parts that have pathways. As I did here, I just want to be a partner to our coaches, a partner to our university and support that mission.”

As Athletics Director at UPike, Wells helped with 24 sports at the school.

At Morehead State he will have 17 sports to help guide and lead the way.

“We’ve got 24 sports here, there’s 17 at Morehead,” Wells said. “So if you just get one call a day, that’s 24 phone calls to get the opportunity to mentor and guide. It gives me a little more time to be specific and get to each sport and give them their due time. While UPike is amazing in the fact that we have great coaches and I love investing in each one of those, it is going to be kind of nice to see the field get cut down to 17.”

UPike has played Morehead in the past.

There may be a chance that you see that some more, but Wells is leaving that decision up to his coaches.

“I think our softball team played there last year,” Wells said. “They’ll be some of those opportunities. Again, I’m a big believer in letting our coaches have autonomy to do their jobs. Mine is to support them along the way. I’ll definitely put a bug in their ear. UPike is definitely an option for those opportunities, but the coaches will have the autonomy to make those decisions with my support. Yeah, I’d love to see the Orange and Black at Morehead as well, but at the same time, the coaches will be the ones making those decisions and that call.”

Wells graduated from MSU in 1995.

He met his wife, Shawne Wells, there. He father and mother both worked there.

It is home.

Wells will definitely miss leaving Pikeville, the place he called home for 17 years.

“The thing that will be missed most here, I forget the wins and losses pretty easily,” Wells said. “Those trophies get dust on them, but the relationships that I developed here are things that will last forever. I think that’s the thing I’ll miss the most, but at the same time, I don’t do goodbyes, so I’ll just say see you all later and we’ll meet again soon. Relationships don’t just quit because you change jobs. We’ll always keep those and we’re very fond of those.”

The Hazard Herald would like to congratulate Wells on his new journey going home.

See you soon Coach.

It’s not always easy to go home.

Especially after making home in a new place for 17 years.

But Kelly Wells is going home.

UPike Athletics Director Kelly Wells was announced the new Athletics Director at Morehead State University this morning.

“I think today’s message is it’s easy to go to a place you love, but it’s gut wrenching to leave a place you love,” Wells said. “That’s kind of where we’re at. We’ve been here going on 17 years as either a coach or athletics director, my wife is deeply rooted in the school system and this is all my son knows is Pikeville. It’s tough, but it’s also a great blessing to go back home. Those that know my history and know my background, Morehead is where everybody in my lineage has graduated from. My father was a basketball coach there and my mother was a secretary for the Dean’s of the university. I met my wife, Shawne, there.  I played basketball at Morehead. My sister met her husband there. It’s been just a life long home for us, while Pikeville has poured into us more than we’ll be able to thank. We’ll take that with us and we’ll take that back to our hometown, hopefully it’ll reflect well on our time here.”

Wells took over as UPike head basketball coach in 2006 and led the Bears to the NAIA National Championship in 2011.

“It’s my recruiting pitch here as well,” Wells said. “Being a part of a national championship is awesome and bringing it to town and sharing it, the value in this place is the people. Our greatest resource is our people. I’ve always said that in recruiting. That’s whey when kids came, I wanted them to bring their families. You have to touch it, you have to feel it and be a part of it.

Wells coached the Bears until 2018 before taking over as Athletics Director.

The athletics department has grown tremendously under Wells.

UPike under Wells’ guidance have started working on new outdoor facilities.

“I think we made progress, no question,” Wells said. “I think I’m super thankful for those who came before me as well. Those who have been with us and supported us through the whole way and when it comes to college and universities, there isn’t really a finish line. We don’t just try to chase a win, I fell like we have always tried to chase being our best version and get better and better. We’ve got great administrators with Dr. Webb and Dr. Worth are really doing a great job of pushing us in a great direction. I was able to come along for the part and give some expert advice on the athletics part of things. When it comes to athletics, you’re only as good as your coaches and they’ve done a great job of representing us the right way. Again, it’s not a finish line, it’s a constant marathon. You just have to keep going and going. Bear Mountain is going to be an absolute positive for the university. We’ve had a lot of success with our minor sports. The Sportsplex has been amazing for us in terms of bowling and archery and wrestling and golf. It’s been very up lifting. I guess my vision is that someone takes the reins and takes value in all of our sports and tries to push them forward and continue by not diminishing the sports that are doing great right now and just bring everybody up. I’m thankful for that and grateful for that. The old adage is that you want to leave things better than you found them, I’m thankful for those who came before me and the job they did. We just tried to be progressive and do the best that we do as best we can moving forward.”

There will be a lot of challenges ahead of Wells stepping into a new role.

He will go from the NAIA to Division I.

“The transition from NAIA to DI is significant,” Wells said. “There is a lot of things that go into place there. The beautiful thing is that there is an entire staff there too. We have a lot of experts in our athletic department and they deal with compliance every day situations. The same things happened here. I didn’t deal with compliance. Our compliance folks dealt with that kind of stuff. There is a learning curve and I’ve got to get in and make sure I understand all of the rules and regulations, but the NAIA really takes a funnel from what the NCAA does and that’s the kind of rules we have. I just have to indoctrinate myself and get used to those; that’s important. As far as developing the whole program, I’m a big believer in that a high tide lifts all boats, so from our rifle program to our men’s basketball program, they have to be uplifted. The ones doing great are like the gold standard cheerleading team. We don’t want to bring them down to raise everybody else up. We want to continue to raise up. Basketball getting a NIT win at Clemson for the first-time ever was huge for the university. It’s like that old Doug Flutie at Boston College, when athletics is good, the entire university gets a good name and you see growth. My approach has always been campus wide. I’m also a business graduate and education graduate, so it’s big for me to see those departments grow. I’ve partnered with our admissions team here and faculty and staff to connect those bridges. That will be the same there, so I’ve got a heavy lift. I understand that, but it’s done with a passion.”

Wells knows what it takes to build successful programs.

And that starts with the coaches and having the right people in the right places.

“It’s just going to be observation, observation and observation,” Wells said. “We just have to take it all in and see what the big picture looks like. The people and coaches that I know there are doing an amazing job, which made it very attractive. It’s’ like a principal at a high school, if you have great teachers the job is super productive. I feel like there is a lot of great coaches there and the administration people there are all great people. That’s what it is all about. We’re in the people business and that’s going to be my first job is to try to continue to develop those relationships and build them and be a gathering. We want all of our alums to come back. My wife is a three-time graduate of Morehead State and I am a two-time graduate. We want to bring all of our alums back in and be a part of what we want to do. Really, it is about assessing all of the situations are and seeing what the best plan of action is going forward. I’m a big believer in that healthy things grow. So one of the things that I want to do is grow in the parts that have pathways. As I did here, I just want to be a partner to our coaches, a partner to our university and support that mission.”

As Athletics Director at UPike, Wells helped with 24 sports at the school.

At Morehead State he will have 17 sports to help guide and lead the way.

“We’ve got 24 sports here, there’s 17 at Morehead,” Wells said. “So if you just get one call a day, that’s 24 phone calls to get the opportunity to mentor and guide. It gives me a little more time to be specific and get to each sport and give them their due time. While UPike is amazing in the fact that we have great coaches and I love investing in each one of those, it is going to be kind of nice to see the field get cut down to 17.”

UPike has played Morehead in the past.

There may be a chance that you see that some more, but Wells is leaving that decision up to his coaches.

“I think our softball team played there last year,” Wells said. “They’ll be some of those opportunities. Again, I’m a big believer in letting our coaches have autonomy to do their jobs. Mine is to support them along the way. I’ll definitely put a bug in their ear. UPike is definitely an option for those opportunities, but the coaches will have the autonomy to make those decisions with my support. Yeah, I’d love to see the Orange and Black at Morehead as well, but at the same time, the coaches will be the ones making those decisions and that call.”

Wells graduated from MSU in 1995.

He met his wife, Shawne Wells, there. He father and mother both worked there.

It is home.

Wells will definitely miss leaving Pikeville, the place he called home for 17 years.

“The thing that will be missed most here, I forget the wins and losses pretty easily,” Wells said. “Those trophies get dust on them, but the relationships that I developed here are things that will last forever. I think that’s the thing I’ll miss the most, but at the same time, I don’t do goodbyes, so I’ll just say see you all later and we’ll meet again soon. Relationships don’t just quit because you change jobs. We’ll always keep those and we’re very fond of those.”

The Hazard Herald would like to congratulate Wells on his new journey going home.

See you soon Coach.