B.J._Callaghan
B. J. Callaghan
American professional soccer coach (born 1981)
Brian Joseph Callaghan II (born July 1, 1981) is an American professional soccer coach who is currently serving as the assistant coach of the United States men's national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Joseph Callaghan II[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-07-01) July 1, 1981 (age 42)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Ventnor City, New Jersey, United States | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | United States (assistant coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–1999 | Holy Spirit Spartans | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2002 | Ursinus Bears | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003 | Ursinus Bears (assistant) | ||
| 2004–2005 | Saint Joseph's Hawks (women; assistant) | ||
| 2006–2007 | Villanova Wildcats (women; assistant) | ||
| 2008–2012 | Villanova Wildcats (assistant) | ||
| 2014–2019 | Philadelphia Union (assistant) | ||
| 2019– | United States (assistant) | ||
| 2023 | United States (interim) | ||
Callaghan played collegiate soccer at Ursinus College, making 250 career saves, fourth in school history at the end of his final season.[3]
After graduation, Callaghan coached at his alma mater and at the club level before joining the staff at Saint Joseph's and later Villanova, where his grandfather, Jack Kraft, had served as the men's basketball head coach in the 1960s and 1970s and led the Wildcats to the 1971 national championship game. From 2005 to 2010, Callaghan served as an assistant coach with the Wildcats before being promoted to associate head coach in 2010.[4]
While at Villanova, Callaghan met Jim Curtin, a Wildcats standout from 1997 to 2000 who was serving as a volunteer assistant. Following Curtin's eventual hiring by the Philadelphia Union as a member of the club's academy staff, Callaghan came on board in 2012 while continuing to serve at Villanova. He left Villanova to became a full-time member of the Union in 2013 following Curtin's promotion to the first team as an assistant coach, and later was one of Curtin's initial hires following the latter's appointment to interim head coach and later to permanent head coach after the firing of John Hackworth.
Callaghan remained with the Union through 2018, before joining the U.S. men's national team as an assistant coach and strategy analyst under Gregg Berhalter in January 2019.[5] After Berhalter's contract expired at the end of 2022, Callaghan stayed with the program following Anthony Hudson's promotion from assistant coach to interim head coach.
On May 30, 2023, U.S. Soccer announced that Callaghan would succeed Anthony Hudson as interim head coach of the men's national team.[6] In June 2023, U.S. Soccer re-appointed Gregg Berhalter as head coach and announced that Callaghan's stint as interim head coach will conclude after the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[7] He made his debut as head coach on June 15 against rivals Mexico in the semi-finals of the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals. The United States won 3–0 and Callaghan became the first U.S. coach to win on their debut against Mexico since David Gould in 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification.[8][9] The team went on to defeat Canada in the tournament final three days later.[10]
- As of match played July 12, 2023
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| United States (interim) | May 30, 2023 | July 12, 2023 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 057.14 | |||
United States
Raised in Ventnor City, New Jersey, Callaghan played prep soccer at Holy Spirit High School.[12]
Callaghan graduated from Ursinus College in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and business administration.[13]
- "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: USA" (PDF). FIFA. December 18, 2022. p. 31. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- "2022 USMNT Coaching Staff". 2022 U.S. Men's National Team Media Guide. Chicago: United States Soccer Federation. 2022. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- "Ursinus College Men's Soccer Career Records (updated through 2019 season)" (PDF). Ursinus Bears. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- "U.S. Soccer Names Initial Members of U.S. MNT Technical Staff". United States Soccer Federation. January 16, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- "USMNT coaching change: B.J. Callaghan named interim coach ahead of Nations League as Anthony Hudson departs". CBSSports.com. May 30, 2023.
- "Gregg Berhalter Chosen To Lead U.S. Men's National Team To 2026 FIFA World Cup". www.ussoccer.com. June 16, 2023.
- Bonn, Kyle (June 12, 2023). "Who is USMNT coach? BJ Callaghan new men's USA soccer national team manager for Nations League, Gold Cup". The Sporting News. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- Goff, Steven (June 16, 2023). "Christian Pulisic scores twice to lift U.S. to contentious win over Mexico". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- Edwards, Andy (June 20, 2023). "USMNT defeats Canada, wins second-straight Nations League title". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- "U.S. beats Canada to win Nations League as Balogun opens account". ESPN. June 18, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- Tannewald, Jonathan. "Ex-Union assistant B.J. Callaghan to serve as interim USMNT coach this summer", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 30, 2023. Accessed May 30, 2023. "Top assistant B.J. Callaghan, a Ventnor native with many years of experience with the national team and the Union, will lead the program through this summer’s Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup tournaments.... The 41-year-old ex-goalkeeper played high school soccer at Holy Spirit, college ball at Ursinus, and worked on the coaching staffs at Ursinus, St. Joseph’s, and Villanova."