Kevin Callahan Field shows Monmouth's endurance in turbulent college football landscape

WEST LONG BRANCH — Thirty-three years ago, Monmouth University began its college football program as the sport approached its cultural apex. The Hawks began with a road loss, then a home opener loss before reaching the win column, and that first win at home would foreshadow the Hawks' identity—a high-scoring 44-42 thriller won by a last-second field goal at Kessler Stadium.

The 1993 season is also a reminder of how profoundly the sport has changed. That first win came against New Jersey rival Saint Peter's, which discontinued its football program 13 years later. In the inaugural year of NEC football in 1996, Monmouth won a share of the conference title. The program would repeat the feat three more times before winning an outright title for the first time in the same year that the Peacocks shuttered their program.

That 2006 season was particularly impressive because Monmouth had just graduated the best player in program history, Miles Austin, who was then making waves as an undrafted rising star with the Dallas Cowboys. As the top team in the NEC, the Hawks earned a trip to the Gridiron Classic to face San Diego (losing 27-7) – a matchup that became far more notable with the benefit of hindsight. San Diego was led by an upstart third-year head coach named Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Josh Johnson, an all-time example of NFL longevity who is currently with the Cincinnati Bengals.

These stories are not unlike sequences common among college football programs – heydays gone by, eras disconnected. The story of Monmouth football is an enduring one shaped by a singular name: Kevin Callahan.

"The biggest thing that impressed me was the steady growth that the university committed to the football program," Callahan said. "We started as a non-scholarship (program), then we went to the NEC, then we went to the Big South. And as we went, we added scholarships along the way. But really it's an indication of the commitment that the institution has to putting together a successful program."

In keeping with that commitment, there was no hesitation among Monmouth's leadership of how to honor the first and only coach over the program's first three decades. That vision was realized Sept. 5 with the dedication of Kevin Callahan Field.

"This is a very special moment. It's a very meaningful moment for me," Callahan said. "To have the university put my name on this field here. On the field where a program I saw from the early stages in the very beginning to develop into what it is today is really special and meaningful to me."

Outside of the walled gardens of the FBS, the tides of college football are precarious, ever-changing and unforgiving. The constant upward trajectory of Monmouth, and the steady hand that guided it, ensured the program's sustainability amidst the merciless waters. The Hawks reached the FCS playoffs for the first time in 2017 and got their first win two years later in 2019 against Holy Cross. They lost in the second round to James Madison and lost in the first round the following year against Sam Houston, two programs that have since transitioned to the FBS.

But the results are not the true measure of success. At the field dedication ceremony before the 2026 home opener, the range of community members and former players embodied the story of Monmouth football. Callahan ensured that the culture would remain profoundly interpersonal in contrast to a college football landscape that became more ruthless. The battles won comprise only one part of the story—how they were won became the legacy.

"It means a lot when a lot of people want to celebrate my dad, because I think that means and shows that he's had a positive impact on them. He's created meaningful experiences for other people, and he's kept people at the forefront of his career," Monmouth wide receivers coach Kevin Callahan Jr. said. "The people have really been at front and center of his career. And I think that's why so many people wanted to celebrate him."

The succession plan has been an extension of that interpersonal savvy. First-year head coach Jeff Gallo has a Monmouth tenure that is only a few years short of matching that of Callahan, and there are numerous assistant coaches with more than a decade of experience with the Hawks.

"My dad was at Monmouth for 33 years, but Gallo's been here for like 26 or 27," Callahan Jr. said. "Coach Gallo has been here since '99 or 2000 (as a player), so he's been at Monmouth almost as long. So I think that's made the transition very easy, because we just have such familiarity with players and alums. And I think you saw that on Saturday."

It was an appropriate result to ring in the occasion as the Hawks beat Sacred Heart 31-24, a bit of revenge 33 years after the Pioneers beat Monmouth 12-0 in the first-ever home opener. It concluded a packed day for Gallo, as he was also one of the five speakers at the pregame ceremony that reflected the many branches of Callahan's deep-rooted legacy.

Athletic director Jen Sansevero was the first, as she has overseen the considerable task of the coaching transition and Monmouth's continued competitiveness in the reshaped landscape of college athletics. Don Burnaford was the chair of the committee that made the recommendation to add football as a sport. There was Callahan's daughter Julia, who recalled the framed Asbury Park Press article in the family home with the headline, "The Architect."

"I don't think it's complete yet," Callahan Sr. said. "It has great years ahead of it with Coach Gallo in charge, and it's going to continue to grow. You can look at it this way, phase one of the program is over. We're in phase two right now."

The journey remains perilous. In addition to being an architect, a college football coach is also something of a constant wartime leader. Half-a-century before that first win over Saint Peter's in October of 1993, Winston Churchill offered a more interpersonal encapsulation of what it means to create something from the ground up:

"We shape our buildings. Thereafter, they shape us."

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Kevin Callahan Field shows Monmouth's endurance in turbulent college football landscape