For Monmouth football, transition to CAA the latest step in successful rise for Hawks

WEST LONG BRANCH – It was on the same patch of land that the process began for Kevin Callahan in 1993.

And while we’re 30 seasons removed from Monmouth University’s first-ever football practice, the grass now replaced by artificial turf, with Kessler Field having morphed into Kessler Stadium, the only head coach the Hawks have ever known can still muster the same level of enthusiasm talking about his latest team as he did when he was getting the program off the ground.

“I think whenever you lose that excitement it’s time to do something else,” said Callahan after Tuesday’s practice in sweltering heat. “It’s still so exciting when football season comes around. To get out here with the guys, this is why you do this. This is why you choose this profession, choose this role. It’s easy to get excited about guys who are hungry and working hard and doing the right thing.”

Back then, Monmouth was an independent preparing to play Stonehill in its inaugural game. Now, it’s a season-opener at New Hampshire on Sept. 1, as the Hawks enter a new era as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, one of the nation’s premier FCS leagues.

Callahan has shepherded the program on its rise through the college football ranks. There were four Northeast Conference titles as a non-scholarship program, before transitioning to a fully-funded member of the Big South, winning a pair of conference titles while making their first appearances in the FCS Playoffs and national rankings.

“It has been quite a journey, an evolution really, from where we started to where we are now,” he said. “It’s something we always hoped for, that we would climb to this level, this height. I think if you look at each step of the way, as an independent, to the brand new NEC in the late 90s, to the Big South, there are steps we have taken as a program and I think we have been successful in each of those steps. And hopefully we can continue that success in the CAA.”

With each step, however, there’s been a transition, and that’s likely to be the case in the CAA.

Despite going 38-11 against FCS foes since 2017, Monmouth was picked to finish 10th in the 13-team CAA this season, having lost 12 starters from a year ago.

But the feeling in the locker room is that the Hawks can outperform expectations in their new home.

“This team is extremely hungry,” said Tony Muskett, named as the All-CAA quarterback on the preseason team. “If there’s one work to describe the way we come out here and go to meetings and walk-throughs, it is hungry. We all feel like this is what we came here to do, and I think it’s going to show.”

Experienced newcomers

Monmouth’s depth chart has been bolstered by an influx of transfers, headed by junior safety Thomas Joe-Kamara. The former South Brunswick standout, who transferred from Temple, is expected to step into the starting lineup alongside safety Tyrese Wright, their leading tackler last season.

“He is a New Jersey guy we knew very well,” Callahan said. “We recruited him out of high school. He was looking for a stable program, which he didn’t find at Temple. He had three head coaches in a month. Now he’s found that stability and I think he has embraced it.”

Among the other newcomers expected to have an impact are wide receiver Darrion Carrington, the former Toms River North standout who is a graduate transfer from Yale, and wideout Ugo Obasi, a graduate transfer from Virginia.

“You are getting guys who have played football at a high level and understand what it takes to prepare properly and I think other guys see that and it reinforces what they’re doing,” Callahan said.

Rebuilding up front

The biggest question mark surrounds Monmouth’s offensive line, which lost all five starters from a year ago.

Among the returnees, however, is Brick Memorial product Justin Szuba, a two-year starter at right tackle who missed last season with a torn pectoral muscle.

During Tuesday’s practice, Szuba was joined on the first-team offensive line by right guard Will Argo, center Tyler Williams, left guard Oliver Jervis and left tackle Jordan Hall.

“Even though the five guys who started last year are gone, the guys that are here have been here a long time, so it’s not like we’re playing young kids,” Callahan said. “We’re playing guys who maybe haven’t had a chance to go out and play before and they are excited about that.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth NJ football starts Colonial Athletic Association transition