Question 1: What was it like growing up around Monmouth football? What are some of your favorite memories?
 
Kevin Callahan Jr. It's hard to imagine a better childhood than growing up around a college football program, but the people are what made it so memorable. The Monmouth players were like heroes to me, and I loved hanging out at practice with them and talking to them on the sideline. I always anticipated away games because my mom let me skip school on Friday to travel with the team. I got to ride on the team bus, sit-in on Friday night meetings, and listen to my dad's pre-game talks. That was the best. The games from 2003-2006 stick out the most because that's when I was really into it. In 2003, we won on a last-minute touchdown to Pete Raspitzi at Georgetown, and won the NEC Championship at St. Francis when Kevin Hutchinson blocked a punt in the 4^th Quarter. In 2004, there was the Miracle at Moon Township at Robert Morris, but I remember Steve Andriola made two game-winning field goals that year too; one against Central Connecticut in the pouring rain on Homecoming, and another to cap-off "The Drive" at Albany when Brian Boland led the team down the field. And then in 2006, Dave Sinisi led us to a win up at Colgate, which was a huge program win at the time. Later that season, we beat Albany 19-0 on a freezing cold day to end the regular season and win another championship. Some of my best (and worst) football memories revolve around Monmouth Football.
 
Q2.You have one of the most talent-rich wide receiver groups in the FCS. What is the mood of the room? How close is this group?
 
KC: Monmouth is the best place to play Wide Receiver in the country. There is an incredible legacy of great Monmouth WR's here, and we not only want to honor that legacy, but we want to enhance it, as well. We take pride in Monmouth being "Wide Receiver U." We want to have the best WR group in the country, and we want to have the best environment. If we want to be the best, and be the Top 1%, then everything we do has to align with that vision. Our current wide receivers have done a great job of holding themselves and each other to the high standard we set. We talk about and work on "culture" a lot in our room, and for us everything starts and ends with trust, discipline, and ownership. As a coach, it's easy when we have a core group of upperclass leaders who realize that great teams have great relationships, and the best teams we have all been on are also the closest teams. When you have a deep, talented group like we do, of course it's going to be competitive, but we don't want it to be cutthroat. I think one of the ideals in any team setting is to be competitive and supportive at the same time. When you watch us play, you can tell we care about each other by the way we celebrate when one of our teammates makes a play. Even in practice, these guys constantly coach each other up even when they are competing for playing time against one another. That takes a lot of humility. We are always working to improve, but this is as close of a unit as I have been a part of. A lot of the WR's are best friends, and I like to think that shows up in the way we play. That's because of the leadership of the upperclassmen in our unit. 
 
 
Q3: You played at Amherst, then coached and had some interesting internships and career opportunities. What led you into coaching at the college level?
 
KC: If you ask anyone I grew up with, they would tell you that I was always going to be a coach. That was probably always in the back of my mind, but when I got to Amherst, I explored a couple different career opportunities. A lot of my teammates and classmates were doing incredible things, or had these great career plans, and I thought maybe that's what I should be doing with my degree. I thought about going to law school, working on Wall Street, teaching, or working in sports. The summer before my senior year I did an internship with the NFL League Office and then had an extensive interview process with the NBA for a job after college. I look back now and think fortunately all of those plans fell through. When it came time to decide my post-grad plans, I fell back on what I always loved, and what I knew deep down that I always wanted to do – coach football. There was an opportunity at Amherst for a graduating senior to coach two sports and run the school's intramural department. So that's how I got my start: I coached football, women's basketball, and coordinated the intramurals.
 
Q4: What do you look for in physical ability when recruiting a wide receiver? What about the intangibles?
 
KC: Physically, the two biggest things we look for are speed and natural catching ability. It sounds simple, but we believe most everything else can be taught. When we watch a highlight film, to evaluate speed, we are looking at what you do when the ball is in your hands. How many explosive plays can you create when you have the ball? How productive are you after the catch? Do you separate in the open-field, accelerate, and run away from defenders? Are you able to impact the game in different areas, like screens, jet sweeps, and in the return game? We have seen first-hand at Monmouth what flat-out speed and playmaking ability can do. Our last three slots WRs – Lonnie Moore, Vinny Grasso, and Darren Ambush – all had these unique qualities and were All-Conference players for us. Catching ability is all about your relationship to the ball. How well do you track it when it's in the air? Do you attack it with strong hands and catch it away from your body? Are you able to make contested catches in traffic? Neal Sterling, Reggie White, Terrance Greene all had such strong hands on film, and they have all been great receivers here. If you have unique speed and/or unique hands, you have the chance to be a very good player, and that's why we place a big emphasis on those two areas. 
 
A lot of players have these qualities, so for us, intangibles are the biggest separator. We want workers. If you want to be different, you have to work different. To join this WR group and fit in with our culture, you have to have a unique drive and work style. We are looking for guys who have a great sense of responsibility, who are self-disciplined, and who have the necessary focus to achieve at a high level. In addition, we are looking for leaders who have humility, selflessness, and want to be the captain of the team, not the MVP. In college, everyone is talented, but the guys who develop, become great, and "make it" are the ones who have the proper character, mindset, attitude, and demeanor. We have no problem passing on someone who has great physical abilities, but lacks these intangibles.
 
Q5: What is it like to work under and with your father, who is one of the most longest tenured and successful coaches in the FCS? How much of the conversation at home centers around football and more specifically Monmouth football?
 
KC: Working at Monmouth, and working with my dad, is a dream come true. In this profession, it's an incredibly unique opportunity, and it's even more unique when you think that it's all happened at one school. It's pretty crazy to think that I grew up around this team, now work for them, and most of the people are still the same. When you look at our staff, you see the longevity and the consistency. That's because my dad has created an environment where people want to be. We don't have coaching turnover or mass player transfers like a lot of other schools, and that speaks to the fact that people want to be at Monmouth, enjoy their time at Monmouth, and it's a family atmosphere where you can develop great relationships. The longer I am in coaching, I realize how unique it is for someone to build a program from scratch, do it the right way with integrity, and have the success we have had. The combination of those three is extremely rare. But the thing that stands out to me is that whenever I meet another coach who has worked with my dad in some capacity, they always say, "He's a great man." They never start by saying, "He's a great football coach." That's what makes me most proud, and probably a great lesson for all of us. 
 
When I was younger, we would always spend time drawing up plays or talking about the weekly matchups for the upcoming game. But now, when I am home, there are no "chalk wars" or film sessions set up on the dining room table. It's less X's and O's and more philosophical, big-picture conversations about Monmouth, our team, the NCAA, and football in general. Recently, as you can imagine, most of the talk has been about how the current events of 2020 impact our team, and ideas we may have to address them.
 
Callahan grew up in nearby Spring Lake starring in football and basketball at Manasquan High School. He played defensive back at Amherst College graduating with a degree in English in 2014. In 2019, his first season as an assistant at Monmouth he helped guide a wideout unit that led the Big South in receptions and yardage and included two all-conference selections.