FSU football recruiting coordinator David Kelly no longer on staff

Florida State University released the following statement this afternoon:

Mario Edwards will fill a countable coaching role as an assistant on the defensive side of the ball, interim head coach Odell Haggins has announced. The change is effective Tuesday.

In a corresponding move, recruiting coordinator David Kelly is no longer on staff. Kelly followed Willie Taggart from Oregon and was formerly FSU’s wide receivers coach in 2018 before he was moved to recruiting coordinator. The NCAA permits each team to have 11 countable coaches, including the head coach. Those coaches are the only staff members permitted to recruit off-campus and, along with four graduate assistants, to provide on-field instruction. Kelly was previously controversially considered one of the 11 counted coaches despite his move off-field.

Mario Edwards, Sr.’s previous title was Senior Defensive Analyst and the Mississippi-native joined the Florida State football program in 2012 as the director of player development.

He starred at cornerback for the Seminoles from 1995-99, capturing All-ACC honors in 1998 and 1999. He still holds the single-game school record with four interceptions against Wake Forest in 1998 and was a member of the 1999 National Championship team.

He was a sixth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2000 and played six seasons in the NFL, including 50 starts, with the Cowboys (2000-03), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2004) and Miami Dolphins (2005).