Rebels QB Chad Kelly had a monster season, but his success probably wasn’t on anyone else’s radar a year ago.

Kelly started his college career at Clemson, but it was doomed before it even began, when he used Twitter to taunt Clemson backup QB Cole Stout.

After actually making it to Clemson, he was redshirted. Then he tore his ACL the following spring, but he returned mid-season to close out a pretty impressive season.

However, the following spring game reignited his pension for trouble, and Kelly publicly lashed out at the coaching staff on multiple occasions. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney considered Kelly’s behavior to be detrimental to the team, and the young quarterback was dismissed.

Kelly transferred to East Mississippi Community College, where he managed to stay out of trouble and win a national championship, which was enough to catch the eye of Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze. Freeze recruited Kelly for the 2015 season with two years of eligibility left.

“God acts in mysterious ways, and I could have acted a lot better [at Clemson], and maybe things would have been different,” Kelly said. “I just know this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Still, the trouble wasn’t over for Kelly. Before the school year even began, he was arrested for fighting with a bouncer at a bar in New York.

Freeze chose to give Kelly another chance, despite his track record and the new trouble. And it paid off.

“It’s hard to put into words the miles he’s come,” Freeze said. “What he did the last four or five games last year is going to be hard to top. He broke all kinds of records and didn’t get the attention other quarterbacks got, but we think there’s a lot more out there for him.”

Like Freeze, Kelly is also proud of his accomplishments in the 2015 season, but he still believes there is work to do.

“It was great to do some of the things we did last year and beat some of the teams we beat, but nobody’s satisfied,” Kelly said. “I think everybody on our team realizes that we have the talent to be great. We have the coaching. We have the players. We have everything we need. We just have to go out and do it and do it every single week and not have any slips.”

He and the Rebels will be playing the 2016 season with a chip on their shoulders, but Kelly says that’s even more motivation.

“I know people still have questions about me,” Kelly said. “They still have questions about Ole Miss, whether we belong. With that feeling, you keep a chip on your shoulder that you want to prove to people that we are the best. That’s what makes it even sweeter when you beat all those teams.”

Kelly is the only Rebels quarterback in history to beat Alabama, Auburn and LSU in a single season. And he is ready to do it again, and lead his team to an even more successful season in 2016.

“Everybody’s watching when you’re the quarterback. The other players see how much you want it,” Kelly said. “That’s what I love the most about being a quarterback. Everybody looks to you to make a play. They look to you to say something that’s going to spark the team. I take full pride in that every single day.”

Kelly has a lot to take pride in. In 2015, he completed 298 passes for 4,042 yards and 31 TDs. He also ran the ball 107 times for 500 yards and 10 TDs. He led the Rebels to an impressive 10-3 season and the No. 2 finish in the competitive SEC West.