Doug Kay

Doug Kay is a former Arena Football League coach for the Columbus Destroyers. In his first season at the helm, Kay guided the Destroyers to their best record in franchise history, while setting a franchise record for road wins in the process. He also guided the club to four home victories, which tied a franchise record. Kay has more than 40 years of football experience including 12 seasons in the Arena Football League. Overall Kay’s teams made the postseason in 10 of his 13 AFL seasons.

His AFL experience began in 1993 as defensive coordinator of the ArenaBowl VII champion Tampa Bay Storm. Four years later, Kay was once again defensive coordinator of a championship team, helping the Arizona Rattlers capture ArenaBowl XI in 1997.

Kay was head coach of the Charlotte Rage in 1995 and returned to Charlotte as the head coach of the Carolina Cobras in 2000 and 2001. Prior to the AFL, Kay spent four seasons in the United States Football League with Boston/New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits.

Kay’s coaching career began in 1960 at his alma mater, Western Illinois University, as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. In 1961, Kay took over at Deerfield (Ill.) High School and coached there through the 1966 season.

From 1967-1969 Kay served as the defensive coordinator at Indiana State University. Kay was then named the head coach of Olivet (Mich.) College in 1970. He spent the next six seasons with Olivet before taking over as the offensive coordinator at San José State University in 1976.

Kay moved to UCLA in 1977 where he was an assistant coach, working mainly with the linebackers and defensive line. In 1980, he took over at the University of Hawaii as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator for three seasons.

A native of Chicago, Kay served in the U.S. Army for two years between 1954 and 1956. He received a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Illinois in 1961 where he played both football and baseball.

On the gridiron, he played under the tutelage of Lou Saban as a quarterback, defensive back, tight end and punter. Kay earned a master’s degree in physical education at Indiana State in 1966. He and his wife Dawn have two children, Kimber and Bart.