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B.J. Callaghan has made many stops in his soccer coaching career since finishing his playing career at Ursinus College in 2003, from his alma mater to the high school, college, academy and professional ranks but until now each stop along the way kept in the Philadelphia area.
On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Union assistant was officially announced as an addition to Gregg Berhalter’s technical staff on the United States Men’s National Team. His title is strategy analyst and assistant coach.
A graduate of Holy Spirit High School in South Jersey, Callaghan played four seasons at Ursinus College and started coaching there after graduating in 2003. He joined the Union first as an academy coach in 2012 and spent the last five seasons as a first team assistant.
Prior to that, he was an assistant for Villanova’s women’s and men’s teams and had coaching stints with Saint Joseph’s women’s team, at Souderton Area High School and in the youth club ranks with FC Delco, Montgomery United and the area Olympic Development Program. Philadelphia Union USL League Two affiliate Reading United can also claim him as a former assistant.
Callaghan was one of four additions to Berhalter’s technical staff announced on Wednesday. They include former U.S. international Josh Wolff as an assistant coach, Steve Tashjian as head performance expert and Darcy Norman as movement and conditioning coach. Both Wolff and Tashjian worked with Berhalter in his previous job as head coach of the Columbus Crew.
A former Ventnor, N.J. resident whose grandfather Jack Kraft was the head coach for Villanova men’s basketball for 12 seasons, earned his U.S. Soccer Pro License last month.
“I think in a bigger picture sense, I’m someone that searches, looks for challenges, and there’s no bigger challenge in this country right now than to make US Soccer relevant again to the masses,” Callaghan told Adam Cann for an article on PhiladelphiaUnion.com.
Callaghan has had a couple of familiar faces at his first January camp with the USMNT in Philadelphia Union defenders Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty, who both earned their first senior national team call-ups. Former Philadelphia Union defender Keegan Rosenberry has also been in camp. The USMNT’s first game with Callaghan on staff is against Panama on January 27 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.