The article reads as follows:<\/em><\/h4>\nMegan 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.<\/p>\n
Almost a decade after she was a student-athlete at Detroit Mercy, Callahan was named the new head coach Sept. 5.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means the absolute world,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cI 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\u2019s a special program. Detroit is a special city. It helps that we\u2019re in a city on the rise, and so is the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs 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\u2019s awesome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the kids for sure,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cI didn\u2019t 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, \u2018I would rather be doing this than sitting in an office all day or in a classroom. I want lacrosse to be my life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last two years were probably the best two years of my life,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cI think this year will probably top that for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only 27 years old, Callahan never expected a head coaching opportunity this soon, but she feels ready. Her desk is messier than she\u2019d like, she only has graduate assistant Peter Moore currently on her coaching staff and she doesn\u2019t expect to have all of her assistants in place until December. But she is fully vested in guiding Detroit Mercy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did the same thing that all these girls did five or six years ago,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cI have more pride in making sure this program does succeed. I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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\u2019s a Florida connection with the latter two players, who come from national power Vero Beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past two years and even our 2019 class coming in, I\u2019ve never seen classes mesh well together as quickly as they have in the last two years,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cIt shows in our team chemistry and how much success we\u2019ve had not even over the last two years, but over the last five years. They\u2019ve come in and picked it up right away. There\u2019s 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\u2019s building a program and that\u2019s cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Callahan used fall ball to implement some new systems for this year\u2019s Detroit Mercy team. She doesn\u2019t pretend to know it all, and she uses every resource possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily Boissoneault, who\u2019s the assistant as James Madison, I played with her here, and she\u2019s probably on my speed dial,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cThe people that I\u2019ve played with before that are in the coaching world, my previous assistant coach, Katie Abbot, who\u2019s at La Salle, and Laura Maness, who\u2019s at Kennesaw State, I still keep in touch with everybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019m young. I wasn\u2019t expecting it after two years. I\u2019m willing to do anything I can to grow and adapt \u2014 not only with the game, but with the program \u2014 and make sure it\u2019s moving in the direction I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it would be pretty much the same experience,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I came to Detroit, to put in the grind years so now I can get on the sideline and see the glory years.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just excited to have this be my life,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cAnything and everything I could do to enhance my knowledge of the game, make the student-athlete\u2019s experience here at Detroit any better \u2014 I wanted to make sure they had a 10 times better experience than I did at Detroit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Callahan is firmly entrenched at Detroit Mercy, whose men\u2019s and women\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely still overwhelming and nerve-wracking but very exciting at the same time,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cJust 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\u2019m loving it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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