Bio

Head coach Rob Keys will enter his 11th season at the helm of the Oilers football program in 2021.  He has recorded a 67-39 record with the program as a head coach, which includes a 34-26 mark in GLIAC games and a 21-7 mark in G-MAC games.

The Oilers played for a conference title again in the spring of 2021, a season which was shortened to six games because of COVID. In that year, Findlay went 4-2 and posted a conference-leading 22 all-G-MAC selections including the Freshman of the Year, Garret Clark and Defensive Player of the Year for the second time, Christopher Jefferson.

While 2019 ended with a 7-4 record, one-game shy of a conference title, there were reasons for optimism. The Oilers scored 37.7 points per game and three of their four losses were by a touchdown or less, including a one-point loss to open the season against 2018's national runner-up. Findlay also led the conference with 23 all-G-MAC selections including eight that earned first team. Sophomore Christopher Jefferson became the first player in program history to earn Defensive Player of the Year in the conference and went on to earn a pair of regional defensive player of the year awards and multiple first-team all-American selections. 

The 2018 season saw the Oilers finish with an 8-3 record after starting the season ranked in the top-25 for the first time in program history. By year's end, Findlay had eight first-team all-conference selections, five all-region selections, and one all-American.

2017 was a special season for the Oilers as they spent most of the year ranked in the top-25 and earned the program's first trip to the NCAA Division II National Playoffs. Keys led Findlay to a 10-3 record that included a first-round playoff win over no. 2 Shepherd, the Oilers' first ever win over an AFCA Top-Five opponent.

In 2016 the Oilers put together a 6-5 record in their final season in the GLIAC. Four players earned first or second team all-conference honors including wide receiver, Jason Moore who also named honorable mention all-American and first team all-region in the Don Hansen Football Gazette.

In 2015, Keys guided the Oilers to a 6-5 record. Two of his players earned either first or second team all-conference honors with lineman Chris Reaper earning GLIAC Offensive Lineman of the Year. The Oilers set a new school record with 3,350 passing yards and averaged 36.1 points per contest.

In 2013, Keys led the Oilers to an 8-3 record.  The eight victories by the Oilers were the most a Findlay team has produced since the 2002 campaign when they went 9-2.  The Oilers also saw six players earn first team all-conference accolades, the most in school history, with another three capturing second team all-league honors.

In his second season with the Oilers, Keys posted a 7-3 record with the same mark in GLIAC competition.  The Oilers showed improvement from their first season under Keys and saw six players earn either first or second team all-conference honors. 

Keys led the Oilers to a 6-5 record during his first season as head coach, which included a 6-4 mark in the GLIAC.  The win total marked a five-game improvement from the year before and included standout wins against Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University.

The Oilers, who had lost 11 straight to GVSU, claimed a 26-20 win on the road against the Lakers in the fourth week of the season and then defeated #22 Wayne State University on the road by a score of 43-42 in overtime to close the campaign.

Coach Keys earned his first career head coaching victory with a 50-27 win at home over Tiffin University on Sept. 17, 2011.

Keys, who was hired as the head coach of the Oilers football program on Dec. 16, 2010, previously served as the co-defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator for the Oilers from 2000-04.

In 2010, Keys served as the defensive backs coach at the University of New Hampshire. He helped coach the team to an 8-5 record in 2010 and a spot in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Playoffs. The Wildcats, who were ranked #10 in the nation, were then upended by the #5 University of Delaware Blue Hens 16-3 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Before his time with the Wildcats, Keys spent four years as the special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach at Slippery Rock University (2006-10).

Prior to his work at Slippery Rock, Keys served one season as the safeties coach and special teams coordinator at Indiana State University (2005) after his five-year run at Findlay.

Keys also spent three seasons coaching at his alma mater, West Virginia University, coaching running backs, special teams, tight ends, tackles, quarterbacks and wide receivers.

As a player at West Virginia, Keys was a two-year letter winner and a 1995 team co-captain. He won the Mountaineer Club Award twice (1994-95), the highest honor a West Virginia player can receive. He was also given the Scott Shirley Award for the special teams MVP in 1995 and participated in the USF&G Sugar Bowl and Carquest Bowl during his tenure as a player.

Keys graduated from West Virginia in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and then later earned his master’s degree in the same field in 1998 from WVU as well.

He also obtained a post-graduate degree from the Marine Military Academy (Harlingen, Texas).

Coach Keys and his wife, Jenifer, are the parents of three daughters, Katie, Casey and Kaylee.