Auburn co-defensive coordinator Charles Kelly is expected to be the next head football coach at Jacksonville State, according to multiple reports.

On3’s Justin Hokanson was the first to report the news.

Kelly, 57, will succeed Rich Rodriguez, who took over as head football coach at West Virginia after three seasons at Jax State.

He was hired at Auburn before the 2024 season and spent 2023 as Colorado’s defensive coordinator under Deion Sanders.

Before joining the Colorado team, he was Alabama’s defensive coordinator and safeties coach from 2019-22. Alabama went 47-6 during that time under Nick Saban and also won a national title in 2020.

A talented recruiter, Kelly was named 247Sports’ 2023 National Recruiter of the Year and was among the top five national recruiters the season prior.

He spent one season at Tennessee (2018), after five seasons at Florida State, where he served as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 2013 before being promoted to defensive coordinator after the Seminoles won a national title.

For the Ozark native, this is his second stop at Jacksonville State, where he coached under Bill Burgess and Mike Williams from 1994 to 1998. He also was on staff at Georgia Tech (2006-11) and was a high school coach at Central-Phenix City and Eufaula.

This story will be updated.