Ger Brennan's Louth exit stuns former manager of Wee County
Kelly managed the Louth senior footballers between 2014 and 2017, guiding them to successive league promotions to Division 2.
Speaking to RTÉ, Kelly said: "I suppose overall, it's shock really. It happened so suddenly.
"It went out on social media [on Tuesday] afternoon. All of a sudden now, you're in a situation where you've no manager, and I suppose it's deja vu really because we've been through this with Mickey Harte [leaving] a couple of years ago.
"So it's probably shock when you think of Leinster champions and a couple of weeks later now, you're looking for a new manager."
Brennan is now seen by some as the heir presumptive to the Dublin throne after Dessie Farrell's resignation, but Kelly doesn't believe that the vacancy at Brennan's home county had any affect on his decision.
"I don't really think that the Dublin manager's job would have a part to play in it," he said.
"From our point of view, we probably wouldn't have been expecting it so the process starts now to look for someone new."
For Louth, the process starts now for the Leinster champions to appoint a new figure at the helm, whether they promote a coach in the Wee County's youth setup or look outward remains to be seen.
Kelly said: "Fergal Reel has done a hell of a job with the U20s, got to a first All-Ireland final, the minor management team have played in a Leinster final and Gavin Devlin is now working within the county.
"Tony McEntee, Oisin McConville, there's a lot of guys out there now in close proximity to the Louth team and who knows at this stage. It's early days."
McEntee left Sligo's footballers after five years at the helm while McConville's agreement with Wicklow has run its course, although he may renew for another season.
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