Former ENMU Head Coach Hired At Silver

Kelley Lee is one of the most successful college coaches in the state of New Mexico over the last decade.   Now he's going back to his roots.   Lee, who recently concluded his second stint as head coach at Eastern New Mexico, confirmed to Prep Redzone New Mexico that he has agreed to become the next head coach at Silver High School, which is moving to Class 3A for the 2026-27 cycle.   “When I got involved with the Silver job, the more I learned about the situation there, the more I thought it was a great job,” Lee told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “It's a one school town. I have a lot familiarity there. It's a great place to raise your family. There's a lot of great things about Silver City. I believe Silver can be a very good football program again. They have a lot of tradition.”   Lee replaces Jerome Ortiz, who led the Colts to the 2022 Class 4A state championship game and a semifinal appearance in 2023. Silver was 6-5 in 2025.   “Coach Ortiz did well,” Lee said. “We recruited a couple of his players. It's a good job. Silver is going to be one of the larger schools in Class 3A. We should have good depth. They had a lot of injuries last season.”          No stranger to Silver City or southwestern New Mexico, Lee spent several years as a youth in that region of the state when his father coached at Silver and Lordsburg before the family moved to Truth or Consequences.   Later, Lee graduated from Western New Mexico University and played quarterback for the Mustangs.   “I really like Silver City,” Lee said. “Being there, I'll be able to go watch some of the WNMU games and see all my friends in the Lone Star Conference. When I was growing up, the Silver City area was home.”      Besides being the head coach at ENMU for six seasons (2017-19 and 2023-25), Lee has experience coaching in the high school ranks. He was the head coach at Valencia High School from 2009-11 and led the Jaguars to a 26-9 record and three playoff appearances.   Lee was also the head coach at 6A Veterans Memorial High School in Brownsville, TX in 2021-22 during the pandemic. He led VMHS to a 17-7 record in his two seasons there before returning to ENMU in 2023.   Lee will bring his renowned high-powered triple option offensive attack to Silver City. The Colts return a pair of promising running backs in [player_tooltip player_id='1606164' first='Urijah' last='Arrey'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1826113' first='Cody' last='Cooper'], four of the five starting offensive linemen and a majority of their starting defense.   “We're going to have six to eight starters back on both sides of the ball,” Lee said. “So, we're definitely have some experience coming back. Arrey is a really good player. I think we're going to be pretty good up front. That's a good recipe for small schools.   “I want to be physical and run the ball. Having some big, strong kids help get that done. Defensively, they played very well last season. They ran to the football and tackled well. They were physical. The defense looks set.”         Lee plans to move to Silver City soon to oversee the winter strength and conditioning program. However, the rest of Lee's family, including his wife and 6-foot-2, 185-pound [player_tooltip player_id='1581314' first='Kingston' last='Lee'], Portales' freshman starting quarterback in 2025, plan to stay in Portales through the end of the 2025-26 school year. That will allow Kingston to participate in track and field during the spring.   “We have to go through the transfer process with the NMAA,” Lee said. “We just have to fil the paperwork. Since I'm going to be the head coach, he should be eligible right away. We do need some clarification whether he'll be eligible immediately for track at the varsity level. If he is, he may come right away. Either way, he'll definitely be here in the fall.   “I'm excited for the opportunity to coach him. That will be fun. Kingston can throw the ball. We'll throw as much as we can protect him and have people who can catch it. We may run our option out of the shotgun and throw the ball more. We'll adjust our scheme to fit Kingston and all of our players after we evaluate them.”       Starting in 2026, Silver will compete in District 3A-2 with Hatch Valley, Hope Christian, Hot Springs, Moriarty, NMMI, Ruidoso and Socorro.   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Here's my Top 15 from my Frosh. Varsity Season 2029 QB/Athlete 6'2” 185 125-208-19 TDs-6 Ints 4.0 GPA / 1220 PSAT<a href="https://t.co/AswQhXpxUB">https://t.co/AswQhXpxUB</a><a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_Eck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_Eck</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_TSanchez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_TSanchez</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_Nesbitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_Nesbitt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachWaltonTSU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachWaltonTSU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_Norvell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_Norvell</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Coachrhud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coachrhud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachAdamClark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachAdamClark</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachWhiteDB1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachWhiteDB1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachTBush?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachTBush</a>— [player_tooltip player_id='1581314' first='Kingston' last='Lee'] (@kingston_lee10) <a href="https://twitter.com/kingston_lee10/status/1998408396228186271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>

Kelley Lee is one of the most successful college coaches in the state of New Mexico over the last decade.