By Turner Shield

McConaghy on the sidelines. Photo courtesy of Collegiate’s Spark.

New Collegiate School varsity football head coach Collin McConaghy says that, “the sky’s the limit” for the team this season. While in a new role, McConaghy is not new to the football team or Collegiate.

McConaghy grew up in Madison Heights, Virginia, a small town that sits outside of Lynchburg. He grew up with two older brothers, with football being his main sport as a kid. He went to Amherst County High School, playing football and being a captain for his Junior and Senior varsity football seasons. 

McConaghy continued his football career at the University of Richmond. McConaghy was voted captain his Senior year at Richmond, helping the team win three conference championships and a national championship. After graduating from Richmond in 2009, McConaghy went back to Richmond to be a part-time strength and conditioning coach, earning a certification while doing so. After being a strength coach at Richmond, he became the sports director at Tuckahoe Family YMCA. 

McConaghy then was an assistant coach at Godwin High School for one year before being hired at Collegiate to run Summer Quest and be a strength and football coach. McConaghy has also earned his Masters in Education from Liberty University. After 11 years as defensive coordinator for the Cougars, McConaghy is taking over from Upper School Dean of Students Mark Palyo, who retired last year.

McConaghy and his family. Photo courtesy of Collin McConaghy.

When asked about how he feels about the new role, McConaghy said, “For the past 11 years being a coach at Collegiate, I have been preparing to be the possible head coach. Now that I am, I feel that I am ready for the job, and it hasn’t been a big change.” New responsibilities that McConaghy faces include the fact that he sends the emails and communicates more with players, parents, and the other coaches. He is the one who is ultimately responsible for what happens to the team, and “I am now the point person for most everything in the program.”

McConaghy doesn’t feel much stress with these new responsibilities, feeling confident as a new head coach and in his managing abilities. Asked about the season so far, McConaghy said, ”I’ve been extremely happy with our start to the season. Our players have done an excellent job buying into and focusing on the process and showing up on game day, ready to play and execute at a high level. It’s going to be very exciting to see how we continue to grow and progress throughout the remainder of the season.” 

Starting quarterback Jack Callaghan (’25) said, “Coach Mac has been a great leader and mentor for me personally. He’s all about the team, we’re all about family. He’s definitely building a culture that everyone wants to be a part of. It’s truly something special.” Almost every player feels the same about Callaghan’s statement and how the team is a family and a part of a culture. Callaghan went on to say that, “I feel that the season is going good so far. Definitely things to learn from and clean up, but the team shows up every day ready to work, and we just make sure to prepare for our opponents every week.”

The Collegiate Cougars started their season playing the Goochland High School Bulldogs on Friday, Sept. 1, winning the game 41-0 at Goochland. On Friday, September 8, the Cougars hosted the Nansemond Suffolk Saints, beating them 31-0 at home. They are now 3-2 for the season, with a game against Woodberry Forest School tomorrow, Sat., Oct. 7, at Woodberry at 2 p.m.