Megan Callahan came to Detroit Mercy in 2009 for the chance to play Division I lacrosse. A native of Lake Worth, Fla., she always figured she would return home to teach after graduating. Instead, she has never left Detroit.
Almost a decade after she was a student-athlete at Detroit Mercy, Callahan was named the new head coach Sept. 5.
“It means the absolute world,” Callahan said. “I love it. I obviously have pride in this school. Being able to wear my number on the uniform and now wearing it as a coach and seeing its success, words are indescribable. Excited, happy, honored, how blessed I am for this opportunity. It’s a special program. Detroit is a special city. It helps that we’re in a city on the rise, and so is the program.”
Callahan helped to start the program on the right path as a player. She joined the Titans in just their second season in 2010, and she is thrilled with the growth of the program since then.
“As an alum, seeing how much talent that this program has, thinking back to the cold days in 2010 where we barely had enough people to play on the field and now we have 15 subs on sideline, it’s awesome,” she said.
Callahan has been there to witness the development of the 11-year program. After graduating, she stayed in Detroit to complete her student-teaching requirement, and then served as a graduate assistant in the athletic department. She was the academic coordinator and helped with the lacrosse team, but her experience coaching nearby at West Bloomfield High School was what really altered her career trajectory.
“It was the kids for sure,” Callahan said. “I didn’t make any cuts. I was encouraging all girls to come out and play lacrosse. In the three years, the amount the program grew, I had to order more uniforms for the varsity and junior varsity teams because we had so many girls. I was teaching them the basics of lacrosse and how fun I made it for them, and I saw it in their faces, I just thought, ‘I would rather be doing this than sitting in an office all day or in a classroom. I want lacrosse to be my life.’”
Callahan stayed with Detroit Mercy full-time as an assistant coach to Laurie Merion, who left in August to become head coach at Albion College.
“The last two years were probably the best two years of my life,” Callahan said. “I think this year will probably top that for sure.”
Only 27 years old, Callahan never expected a head coaching opportunity this soon, but she feels ready. Her desk is messier than she’d like, she only has graduate assistant Peter Moore currently on her coaching staff and she doesn’t expect to have all of her assistants in place until December. But she is fully vested in guiding Detroit Mercy.
“I did the same thing that all these girls did five or six years ago,” Callahan said. “I have more pride in making sure this program does succeed. I’m doing everything in my power to help that. The coaches in the past that have gotten the program to where it is today. I want to continue it and build it one more step up.”
Detroit Mercy finished 10-8 overall and 4-1 in the Southern Conference to earn the regular season championship and top seed for the inaugural SoCon tournament. Mercer upset the Titans in the first round 18-17 after a late comeback bid fell short. Detroit Mercy returns the conference’s offensive player of the year (redshirt junior midfielder Kaitlyn Wandelt), defensive player of the year (senior goalie Allison McDonough) and freshman of the Year (sophomore midfielder Meredith Moore). There’s a Florida connection with the latter two players, who come from national power Vero Beach.
“For the past two years and even our 2019 class coming in, I’ve never seen classes mesh well together as quickly as they have in the last two years,” Callahan said. “It shows in our team chemistry and how much success we’ve had not even over the last two years, but over the last five years. They’ve come in and picked it up right away. There’s been teaching, not so much of directing how the program needs to go. The upperclassmen are definitely telling the freshmen what to do and how things are run here. It’s building a program and that’s cool to see.”
Callahan used fall ball to implement some new systems for this year’s Detroit Mercy team. She doesn’t pretend to know it all, and she uses every resource possible.
“Emily Boissoneault, who’s the assistant as James Madison, I played with her here, and she’s probably on my speed dial,” Callahan said. “The people that I’ve played with before that are in the coaching world, my previous assistant coach, Katie Abbot, who’s at La Salle, and Laura Maness, who’s at Kennesaw State, I still keep in touch with everybody.
“I know I’m young. I wasn’t expecting it after two years. I’m willing to do anything I can to grow and adapt — not only with the game, but with the program — and make sure it’s moving in the direction I want.”
Callahan has only known building start-up programs in her lacrosse career. Park Vista Community in Florida was a new team when she started playing in high school, but it reached the state championship in her final two seasons. Detroit Mercy was just starting when she helped to shape its future.
“I knew it would be pretty much the same experience,” Callahan said. “That’s why I came to Detroit, to put in the grind years so now I can get on the sideline and see the glory years.”
West Bloomfield was in its infancy when Callahan took over and grew its numbers. And Detroit Mercy has made a jump over the last two years after she began coaching full-time.
“I was just excited to have this be my life,” Callahan said. “Anything and everything I could do to enhance my knowledge of the game, make the student-athlete’s experience here at Detroit any better — I wanted to make sure they had a 10 times better experience than I did at Detroit.”
Callahan is firmly entrenched at Detroit Mercy, whose men’s and women’s lacrosse teams recently celebrated their 10th anniversary, and digging in at her latest challenge with the Titans. Being the new head coach gives her the chance to shape a program that changed her life.
“It’s definitely still overwhelming and nerve-wracking but very exciting at the same time,” Callahan said. “Just being able to be with the program the past couple years as an assistant coach, just being around it, it is making the transition a little smoother. Now everything is in my control, which is fun, but still nerve-wracking. I’m loving it.”
FALL BALL FOCUS
Southern Conference
The SoCon had tremendous competition among its top four teams in its inaugural year. Mercer won the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed after stopping No. 3 seed Furman. Detroit Mercy dominated the conference individual awards, but any of last year’s top four teams could win this year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise.
Detroit Mercy
(10-8, 4-1)
Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Wandelt returns as the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and senior goalie Allison McDonough, who was the Defensive Player of the Year. The Titans also return last year’s Freshman of the Year in midfielder Meredith Moore. Picked fourth last year, the Titans are the favorites this time around.
Central Michigan
(11-7, 4-1)
The Chippewas have a great starting point with all three of their conference first-team selections back. Natalie Karlen is a top attacker, Jocelyne Lemay is a standout midfielder, and Shannon Doyle is an outstanding defender. Star goalie Dominique Hamman is back for her senior year as well. They closed with wins in six of their final seven regular-season games, and this is their fourth year in existence — a breakthrough point for many programs.
Furman
(8-11, 3-2)
Top scorer Abby Shields leads the offense while first-team junior Morgan Franklin anchors the defensive end for a Paladins team that seems poised to move up in its fourth year as well. Both of its league losses last year were close games. Furman needs to improve in draw controls and ground balls to create more possession for an offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in scoring.
Mercer
(9-11, 3-2)
Can the Bears ride the momentum of their conference tournament run? The No. 4 seed had Detroit Mercy’s number last year with a win in the regular season and upset in the SoCon tournament’s first round. Mercer graduated its top two attackers and best midfielder, but the Bears have a strong defense to build around with senior Audrey Robertson and junior Michela Lucas.
Wofford
(2-15, 1-4)
The Terriers ended their inaugural season with wins in two of their final three games. Wofford is still young with just three seniors led by defender Monica Branch. They are mostly sophomores and freshmen. Hannah Mutch is the top sophomore for a Terriers team that hopes to build on last year and be more competitive.
Delaware State
(0-14, 0-5)
Second-leading scorer Olivia Summerville returns for the Hornets. The senior led the team in ground balls and caused turnovers as well. She will need help as Delaware State looks to snap its 23-game losing streak.