Champ Kelly wakes up every morning and counts his blessings – he's thankful for life, thankful for his wife and three daughters, and thankful for the role he's in with the Las Vegas Raiders.
"When I got in this profession, I told myself, when I stop loving it and stop being a fan of it, I would do something else," the assistant general manager said.
After a 6 a.m. workout to clear his mind, a quick breakfast and then an 8 a.m. team meeting, Kelly heads to the practice fields to begin his workday.
Kelly is in his third training camp with the Raiders and first working with General Manager Tom Telesco. What could've been an awkward situation for the pair - as Kelly served as interim general manager for the second half of last season - has been everything but.
"I try to be the supporter, eyes, ears and enforcer to his vision," Kelly said. "Try to provide sound advice in every matter because you're involved in high-level decisions. My job is to make sure that I'm telling him the truth, whether he wants to hear it or not. It's not always popular, but it's the reality of it. When I have the opportunity to run a team as the GM, I want someone to support me with the same effort and truth."
Kelly got his first scouting job with the Denver Broncos in 2007, but it's clear 18 seasons haven't changed his love of the game as he grins like a kid on Christmas as he walks out for the first padded practice of camp.
"Something about the thumping of pads makes me smile."
Practice isn't an idle activity for Kelly.
He seeks to be in a state of constant learning – who the players truly are, how certain acquisitions are fitting into the team culture, what identity is being built within each position group – while also trying to be one step ahead of what the team might need next.
"I tell the scouts this and what I try to do every practice is to work the practice," he said. "I don't go out there with just an aimless look. Whether it's watching the tight ends in individual drills or watching the D-line and their work, every day I want to go to a different position group or multiple groups so I can just learn the players. You can't be a good scout if you don't know your current team. I truly believe that.
"Typically, when I come in every day, I know positions where we are light at, maybe from a numbers perspective. I carry that in so when we come here, we know where we're going to go at in every position if someone goes down. You've got to think, if we lose a couple of guys at a position, we still have practice the next day."
That's exactly what happened the first week of camp when wide receiver Michael Gallup notified Telesco, Kelly and Pierce that he decided to hang up his cleats. Telesco and Kelly went into action, combing through the team's "short-list" to find the next available receiver. After trying out a couple of players, they signed both Keenan Doss and Terrell Bynum.
The goal is always to find a team-first, physical, intelligent player who loves the game of football, but also a player who is in shape and can acclimate to the team at a moment's notice.
"Every acquisition that we make matters," Kelly said. "You've got to have intense competition at every single position. It's the only way that we're going to get the optimal product that we want."
He walks over to watch the O-line's individual drills, keeping an eye on some of the younger players like third-round draft pick DJ Glaze and UDFAs Clark Barrington, Andrew Coker and Will Putnam.
"When [offensive line] Coach [James] Cregg first got here, it was a lot of these guys' first time doing some of these drills and techniques. You can see their progress over [that] time and start feeling the synergy. I'm still of the old school mindset that you win in the trenches. You win in the O-line and D-line with quickness and agility."
He shakes hands and chats with former Raider Richie Incognito, who was out at practice giving advice to fellow O-linemen. Before coming to the Raiders, Kelly had always heard the phrase "Once a Raider, Always a Raider," but since being in the Silver and Black himself, he's marveled at how the franchise exemplifies the motto every day – with the likes of Incognito, Eric Allen, Lincoln Kennedy and Greg Townsend being just a few of the alumni that have come out to camp.
Team period is up next and Kelly is dialed in on how each unit is working together to absorb the schemes being installed. The louder the players are, the better in his eyes.
"The biggest thing when you're out here is to hear the guys talking," he said. "All of this stuff that's communicated pre- and post-snap is the key to synchronization. When you have the ability to come in and put it all together, really work through not just the physical part of it but the communication piece pre- and post-snap, that aspect allows you to get better."
Once practice wraps, Kelly heads back to the team hotel and grabs a bite to eat before meeting up with the scouting staff to watch tape from that day's practice.
"It's a fun period because everybody gets a chance to talk and communicate. It's a great learning period. You've got such a diversity of scouts in the room from age and experiences. We're constantly learning and growing with each other."
An hour later, he switches from evaluating the current roster to evaluating the future. Since training camp is one of the last times he and many of the college scouts will spend a considerable amount of time together until the end of the college football season, they take advantage of the opportunity.
"Communication is the most important thing in any relationship – whether you're talking about your marriage, your brother, your sister, your mom, your dad – communication is the most important thing," he said. "I think the other thing is knowing the vision of what it is to be a Raider. Knowing the type of players that're going to fit the makeup of our head coach."
He flips a switch again back to the pros for the team's walkthrough later that evening at 5:30 p.m. It may seem challenging to jump back and forth between the different levels of football, but it's been one of the constants over his career that he has never tired of.
"I've been doing it for so long now, I really just enjoy it. I don't have to get stuck in one particular area," he said. "Everything that I'm about is just building that communication base and those relationships so you know exactly who to bring in, where they fit at, how they fit on the roster."
As his schedule winds down, he takes time every evening to connect with staff members he may not know or doesn't interact with every day. Since the team is holding the first part of camp away from headquarters this year, he's found more opportunities to connect with others.
"I try to meet with player engagement or video or some other department so I can continue to grow and learn and learn about them and really be connected to the people that I work with," he emphasized. "In this league, everybody's so talented that you have to win in the margins. I think winning in the margins is your connectivity. That's extremely important to me."
Kelly ends his day how he starts it – counting his blessings for his family and catching up with his three daughters on how they did at their softball and soccer practices or about what Olympic sport they watched that day. He is intentional with his time not just to keep his family his priority, but to model for those around him that a balance is always needed between football and family.
"It's never what you leave for people, it's what you leave in them and invest in them," he said. "For my girls, it's them knowing that this profession, what I do, is not bigger than my love and my responsibility to raise them appropriately. Throughout this entire day, they're at the forefront. They're not just the why, but the how. They keep me going."
He sneaks in a bit more practice tape before going to sleep and starting the daily grind all over again.
"This is a great period for us to really get to know our team and our players. There's no other games going on right now so our focus is on them at practice and seeing what they do best so that we can put together the right team.
"For me, I'm like an uncle for all of these guys. It's just cool watching them grow and have success. I'm genuinely happy when these guys come in, make the plays, learn the assignment, achieve more than they even envision themselves to be able to achieve."
The Silver and Black head out to the practice field for 2024 Training Camp.