Ready for Liftoff

8/7/2023

It was T-minus five days and counting, and Collin McConaghy was so excited that it seemed he could hardly contain himself.

Actually, Collegiate’s first-year head varsity football coach has been super excited about the official start of the 2023 season ever since early December when he answered the call to succeed Mark Palyo, who retired after 16 years and with whom he served for 11.

On this warm Wednesday afternoon, McConaghy sat on the front porch of the Jacobs Gym during a break between a Summer Quest camp on the Grover Jones Field and his team’s open lift and spoke of his hopes and dreams for the upcoming season and beyond.

Always positive, always energetic, the University of Richmond graduate and starting middle linebacker on the Spiders’ 2008 FCS National Championship team spoke in glowing terms about his guys’ commitment to off-season training, their willingness to pay with sweat equity to achieve success, and the plan that he and his staff are implementing to give the Cougars an edge.

He punctuated many of his sentences with “awesome.” If you know McConaghy, you know that’s not just a default superlative. If Collin McConaghy says “awesome,” he truly means “awesome.”

What’s your world been like lately?

It’s been a lot of fun. I feel like I’m around my passions, so to wake up and know I’ve got football, the Peavey Project, and family (wife Tricia and children Porter, 9, Libby 5, and Cam, 20 months), I’m truly living the best job possible.

From a football standpoint, the coaching staff has been meeting [since early December] and getting our offense and defense squared away. They’ve been unbelievable with the amount of work they’ve put in. We’ve spent a lot of time meeting with our personnel on Zoom and in person, seeing what their strengths are. They’ve bought in fully, so it’s been awesome.

Our football kids are two- and three-sport athletes. We have access to them for a very finite period of time. We’re emphasizing getting in the weight room, taking care of their nutrition, and making the strength gains as well. They’ve really bought in to the culture. They want Collegiate football to continue to win games. They want to leave a mark. I couldn’t be more excited for [official practices] to get under way.

What can you say about your offensive plan?

We’re implementing a little bit of a new offense. We know [quarterback] Jack Callaghan well. We understand how he operates, how he thinks, so we just tried to morph the offense to help him and fit our personnel. We’ve got a lot of athletes. We’ve got to get them the ball in space. We’re going to get up and go. Last year, we threw the ball about 37 times a game, which for a lot of high schools is unheard of. Right? That number’s not going down.

We’ve got a running back in Xay Davis, who’s a Division I scholarship kid who can absolutely do anything and everything whether he’s running the ball or catching the ball out of the backfield. We have several receivers who are extremely explosive, so we’re going to make sure they see the ball early and often. We have L.J. Booker, a senior receiver. We have Ben Street, who’s a sophomore receiver, really speedy kid. We’ve got Brandon Anderson, basketball kid, who’s coming out. He’s looked absolutely awesome. We have Cooper Leipheimer and Peyton Dunn. There’re kids out there doing some really good things that we’re excited about.

Speak about your offensive line.

Our guys up front are awesome, but they’re not going to be bigger than our competition, so we’re probably not going to be a smash-mouth football team. A handful of them wrestle, so we know they’re aggressive. They know how to use their hands, move their feet, be physical, so we’re excited. We’ll piece that group together nicely. Are we keeping Jack in the pocket? Are we moving him around? That will dictate what we’ll do up front. We’ve got a core group: Keigan Hayes, Kevin Johnson, Fitz Stanley, Aaron Atkins, Braden Bell. Whoever’s there, I know, is going to sell out for the guys behind him and beside him. That keeps me excited.

Defensively?

We’ll base out of our 4-3 defense, which we’ve done for over a decade now. Our guys understand our philosophy that we’re going to be smart, we’re going to know our assignments, and we’re going to execute and fly to the football. We’ve got some aggressive kids who are absolutely getting after it.

Our middle linebacker will be Jack Ferry, who’ll play college football if he wants to. Xay Davis, our running back, has shown great things this summer at linebacker. Some of those receivers have been doing really awesome things as defensive backs. We bring back individuals up front like Ben Heidt and Kevin Johnson. We’re going to be athletic. We’re going to run to the ball. We may not be the biggest team out there, but we’re going to know what to do and absolutely get after it.

And special teams?

We’re excited. Special teams is not going to be a play off for our guys. Our starters will be out there a lot of times to make sure we’re taking advantage of the opportunities that special teams present. We look at it as a third of the game.

Nikhil DePalma, who kicked for us last year, has had a heck of an off-season. His leg is looking really good. Blake Ingold is back as well. He can really kick the football. Any time you have the explosive athletes we do, whether it’s punt return or kickoff return, you have a chance to gain some yardage.

How do you convince undersized guys that they can compete?

I’ll take our kids against any group, any day of the week. They fight for each other. It’s not always a one-on-one matchup. You’re one of 11 getting after it. Right? If someone in front of you is bigger, if you have good technique and you can move your feet and you understand what your job is, it’s easier to be successful. They’ve seen successful teams in the past. They know we can be successful, and they know we don’t have to be the biggest, fastest, strongest on the field to have success.

Sounds like you’re playing to their strengths and coaching them to rise to the challenge, bring the energy, and support each other.

I just had a conversation with John O’Connor (of the Richmond Times-Dispatch) about our (2008) National Championship team at Richmond. He asked me, “What was the secret sauce?” I said, “We were a family. We sold out for each other. We loved each other. We cared about each other on and off the field. We knew each other through and through.”

Does that always lead to wins? No, but it does a lot of times, and it makes coaching and being around these kids extremely fun. If we continue to buy in to the details, wins will add up. Our No. 1 core value is family. You are going to have your teammates’ backs whether on the field, in the classroom, or in the community. If you give them everything you have, if you buy in to that brotherhood, it’s special.

~Weldon Bradshaw

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