Flag football’s rapid rise is attracting some of the biggest names in sports, and the latest addition comes straight from the NFL front office. After spending years helping shape NFL rosters, Champ Kelly is taking his football expertise in a completely new direction. The former Miami Dolphins general manager has landed a senior leadership role with golf icon Tiger Woods’ TMRW Sports.

“Former Dolphins and Raiders interim general manager Champ Kelly, who spent 19 seasons in NFL front offices, is being named as senior vice president of operations at TMRW Sports, responsible for the new women’s and men’s professional flag football league being created in partnership with the NFL,” Schefter wrote on X.

Anthony “Champ” Kelly is a prominent American football executive who brings nearly two decades of NFL front-office experience to TMRW Sports. He spent the 2025 season as a senior personnel executive for the Miami Dolphins and was named their interim General Manager in October 2025 following the departure of Chris Grier. However, Kelly also held multiple executive roles before that.

Kelly previously served as the assistant GM and interim GM for the Las Vegas Raiders (2022–2024). He was also the assistant director of player personnel for the Chicago Bears (2015–2021) and began his NFL career as a scout for the Denver Broncos (2007–2014). So, when it comes to experience, Kelly surely appears as a fitting appointment. But will he have a similar output at TMRW Sports?

TMRW Sports was co-founded by golf icons Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy alongside sports executive Mike McCarley in August 2022. The firm aims to focus on building progressive, tech-infused sports media and entertainment ventures. And that is how flag football comes into the picture.

In December 2025, all NFL team owners voted to support and finance a new flag football league. Through its collective investment wing, 32 Equity, they put forward an initial funding block of $32 million.

In March 2026, TMRW Sports was officially selected as the league’s primary operational partner, where the league’s rollout strategy is aligned with the run-up to the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, where flag football is scheduled to make its historic Olympic debut.

To execute such a project, TMRW Sports has assembled an executive team to construct and scale the football business. To start off, they hired Brendan Donohue as the president of flag football a few days back. Donohue stands as a long-time NBA executive and former head of the NBA 2K esports league, who oversees the business operations and commercial scaling of the entire flag football division.

And now, Champ Kelly, as senior VP of operations, will also be given a similar responsibility by the ownership group of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley.