Monmouth football: For Callahans, Lafayette game a family affair
Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan will be coaching against his son, Kevin Jr., Lafayette's RB coach, on Saturday in Easton, Pa.
Monmouth football: For Callahans, Lafayette game a family affair Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan will be coaching against his son, Kevin Jr., Lafayette's RB coach, on Saturday in Easton, Pa. Check out this story on app.com: https://on.app.com/2NfglCo
Stephen Edelson, Asbury Park Press Published 6:42 a.m. ET Sept. 14, 2018 | Updated 10:25 a.m. ET Sept. 14, 2018
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Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan with his son, Kevin Jr., before a 2002 game at Lafayette in Easton, Pa.(Photo: Ann Marie Callahan)
WEST LONG BRANCH – It was an idyllic childhood that centered around the excitement of college football, marked by moments like the Hail Mary to beat Robert Morris in 2004 and the interactions with a revolving cast of players.
``The thing that really stand out to me was just being with my dad,'' said Kevin Callahan Jr., whose father happens to be the only head coach Monmouth University has ever had.
On Saturday in Easton, Pa., the two will find themselves on the opposite sidelines for the first time, as Monmouth (1-1) travels to face Lafayette (0-2), where the younger Callahan is in his first season as the Leopards' running backs coach. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Fisher Stadium.
``It's certainly going to be unique for me and our family,'' Callahan Sr. said. ``It's funny, because for the longest time, once he was old enough he traveled to every game with us. He was on the sideline for every home game. He was always with us.''
And even after Callahan Jr. began playing football, at Manasquan High School and later at Amherst College, and got into coaching, having spent three seasons at Columbia, the two still found themselves talking football on the telephone constantly. They would check in on Friday night and have a pregame chat Saturday morning, before recapping the game on Saturday night.
Nothing will change this week, other than the fact that the conversation might get a little awkward at times.
Monmouth caoch Kevin Callahan stalks the sideline while his son, Kevin Jr., stands nearby. Kevin Callahan Jr. is now an assistant coach at Lafayette, which hosts his father's team on Saturday in Easton, Pa. (Photo: Ann Marie Callahan)
``It's probably superstitious for both of us to talk on Friday night, Saturday morning and then Saturday after the game,'' Callahan Jr. said.
``This week it probably won't be too much different. `What do you think about this or that. Good luck.' That's usually what it is going to be. We won't be sharing trade secrets or anything like that, but it will be the same because that's kind of our relationship.''
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``Those talks continue to be a tradition for us to this day. We did it last week,'' said Callahan Sr. ``This week the conversation will be a bit different, but it's fun, it's good. I'm happy for him that he's in a spot he really likes and is really enjoying what he's doing. He has a passion for coaching and a passion for football and he has a great opportunity on coach (John) Garrett's staff at Lafayette and I'm happy for him.''
Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan Sr. (left) talks to his son, Kevin Jr., then working as an assistant at Columbia. (Photo: Ann Marie Callahan)
Was it preordained that Callahan would walk in his father's footprints and enter the coaching ranks?
That depends who you talk to, although deep down, everyone seemed to sense he might end up back on the sideline.
``I didn't really think that was the path he would take,'' Callahan Sr. said. ``But he always did have, even when he was playing sports, he always had a coaching mentality. He always seemed to have a coaches perspective on things. So I guess it didn't surprise me when he decided to make that move into coaching.''
``I think anybody who knew Kevin growing up pretty much knew that was the avenue he was going to take,'' said Ann Marie Callahan, the wife and mother who will be rooting for a ``great game'' this weekend. ``But it's a different path than even my husband took, so you're a little nervous about that, because Kevin had had such a wonderful, stable job which is not always the case in a lot of coaching positions. But yes, we are thrilled for him.''
It will certainly be strange for Callahan Jr. to be coaching against the program that once dominated his existence, getting out of school early on Friday's so he could travel with the team to road games, and hanging out in meeting rooms as his father went over the weekly gameplan.
``It was great. Monmouth football was something that consumed our lives, especially during the fall,'' he said. ``It was just so exciting to be a part of it. And it really was a great way to grow up, you get so attached to the wins and the losses and the players who played there. It was really about the people all the time.
A 2-year-pld Kevin Callahan Jr. on the 1993 Monmouth football schedule during the program's inagural season. (Photo: Ann Marie Callahan)
``That was the best part about it. Getting on the bus on Friday or coming home after a Saturday road game and just kind of analyzing the game with my dad a little bit. Those are the things that really stand out to me about it.''
Saturday's showdown at Fisher Stadium happens to be a huge game for Monmouth, looking to maintain its momentum after last Saturday's 56-28 victory over Hampton, as the Hawks bounced back from a season-opening loss at Eastern Michigan.
Monmouth's win over Hampton last season ignited a seven-game winning streak. If the Hawks can pull off a similar feat this season, beginning with a victory over the Leopards, they would have 9-1 record, with eight straight wins, heading into a home showdown with defending Big South champions Kennesaw State at Kessler Stadium on Nov. 10.
Stephen Edelson is an Asbury Park Press columnist: sedelson@gannettnj.com
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