Road to Recovery Full of Appreciation for Silas Kelly
by Charlie Krausse November 12, 2020
Redshirt Senior Linebacker, Silas Kelly
For those who have never experienced a major injury such as tearing your ACL and meniscus, simply cannot fully relate. Those that have, know all too well. The running joke is ‘welcome to the club, we have jackets.’ For Silas Kelly, his membership to this club began on September 7, 2019 as he tore his ACL and meniscus in a road win at Kansas.
Injuring the body, unfortunately, is the easy part. The real journey is the recovery. Arguably tougher than the physical return and rehab is the mental return. “Mentally, the worst part is not feeling like I was contributing to the team,” said Kelly.
This slippery slope of feeling disconnect is one most athletes experience, not just for the redshirt senior from Mount Airy, Maryland. “You’re going through rehab and extra weight sessions when you can, its easy to feel like you are not part of the team,” added Kelly.
Additionally, as an athlete the physical recovery had its challenges, as well. “Physically, trying to not push myself too hard was the toughest. As an athlete, you always want to push yourself as hard as you can. But with all the structural stuff going on, it was a scenario where I had to take advisement of my trainers and therapists.”
Fast-forward to fall of 2020, a new season. A new hope. A fresh start. A new beginning. A new appreciation. “It made me appreciate walking, first of all,” added Kelly. “I got tears in my eyes the first time I was able to take the field for a normal practice.”
Now having more fun than ever before, this appreciation of a new outlook, one can argue, has helped his performance on the field for the 2020 season. Kelly currently leads the Black Swarm defense in total tackles and ranks in the Top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference. He is also ranked in the Top 5 of the conference standings in sacks. Not too bad for someone who is only 12-months removed from a major knee surgery and who was only projected to finish on the All Sun Belt 4th Team Defense, by Phil Steele.
Looking ahead the Chantleers seek to continue their undefeated streak this weekend as they travel to the southern part of Alabama to play Troy, a team who is pass happy and plays fast. “As soon as a play is over, the scout team lines up and runs another one,” exclaimed Kelly in reference to the defense’s preparation for this weekend’s matchup. “We’re having to line up quickly, make the calls quickly, make the checks quickly.”
Coastal Carolina’s love-hate relationship with ESPN continued as well this week. Featured on their Tuesday night weekend look-ahead show, the national network put up a list of teams that they felt were on upset alert. To no surprise, the Chanticleers logo appeared. “I love it!” exclaimed Kelly. “I hope everyone picks us to get upset the rest of the season.”
On ESPN’s behalf, if there is one Sun Belt team who has knocked off more Power 5 schools over the past decade than any other, it is Troy. With that said, it adds to individual’s fire, drive and motivation, for the team and specifically Kelly.
Coastal Carolina plays Troy at noon ET (11am local time) this Saturday on ESPN2.
Injuring the body, unfortunately, is the easy part. The real journey is the recovery. Arguably tougher than the physical return and rehab is the mental return. “Mentally, the worst part is not feeling like I was contributing to the team,” said Kelly.
This slippery slope of feeling disconnect is one most athletes experience, not just for the redshirt senior from Mount Airy, Maryland. “You’re going through rehab and extra weight sessions when you can, its easy to feel like you are not part of the team,” added Kelly.
Additionally, as an athlete the physical recovery had its challenges, as well. “Physically, trying to not push myself too hard was the toughest. As an athlete, you always want to push yourself as hard as you can. But with all the structural stuff going on, it was a scenario where I had to take advisement of my trainers and therapists.”
Fast-forward to fall of 2020, a new season. A new hope. A fresh start. A new beginning. A new appreciation. “It made me appreciate walking, first of all,” added Kelly. “I got tears in my eyes the first time I was able to take the field for a normal practice.”
Now having more fun than ever before, this appreciation of a new outlook, one can argue, has helped his performance on the field for the 2020 season. Kelly currently leads the Black Swarm defense in total tackles and ranks in the Top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference. He is also ranked in the Top 5 of the conference standings in sacks. Not too bad for someone who is only 12-months removed from a major knee surgery and who was only projected to finish on the All Sun Belt 4th Team Defense, by Phil Steele.
Looking ahead the Chantleers seek to continue their undefeated streak this weekend as they travel to the southern part of Alabama to play Troy, a team who is pass happy and plays fast. “As soon as a play is over, the scout team lines up and runs another one,” exclaimed Kelly in reference to the defense’s preparation for this weekend’s matchup. “We’re having to line up quickly, make the calls quickly, make the checks quickly.”
Coastal Carolina’s love-hate relationship with ESPN continued as well this week. Featured on their Tuesday night weekend look-ahead show, the national network put up a list of teams that they felt were on upset alert. To no surprise, the Chanticleers logo appeared. “I love it!” exclaimed Kelly. “I hope everyone picks us to get upset the rest of the season.”
On ESPN’s behalf, if there is one Sun Belt team who has knocked off more Power 5 schools over the past decade than any other, it is Troy. With that said, it adds to individual’s fire, drive and motivation, for the team and specifically Kelly.
Coastal Carolina plays Troy at noon ET (11am local time) this Saturday on ESPN2.
picture courtesy of Coastal Carolina Athletics