Tag: B.J. Callaghan

USMNT assistant Callaghan named Nashville SC head coach

The position represents Callaghan’s first full-time head coaching role

Nashville SC has confirmed the appointment of U.S. men’s national team assistant B.J. Callaghan as head coach.

Callaghan leaves U.S. Soccer after initially joining the USMNT staff in 2019. The New Jersey native served as the USMNT’s interim head coach last year, leading the team to the 2023 Concacaf Nations League title and the semifinal of the Gold Cup.

The 43-year-old’s departure from the USMNT was announced just two days after the team was eliminated from the Copa América.

“Taking the head coach position at Nashville SC is an incredible opportunity and an exciting next step in my career,” Callaghan said in a Nashville SC release. “I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to [USMNT head coach] Gregg Berhalter for his mentorship and support throughout my time with the USMNT. The experience I’ve gained here has been invaluable, and I’m deeply appreciative of the relationships and memories made along the way.

“While I am thrilled to embark on this new journey, it is bittersweet to leave a team and staff that I believe in so deeply. I have full confidence in the exceptional coaching staff we have in place and know the team is in great hands. As we approach the 2026 World Cup, I’ll be cheering on the team every step of the way. Thank you to everyone at U.S. Soccer for the support and camaraderie – it has truly been an honor.”

The position with Nashville represents Callaghan’s first full-time head coaching role. Callaghan will join the club on July 22, and his first game in charge will be a Leagues Cup match against Mazatlán FC on July 31.

“We are so excited to usher in this new era for Nashville Soccer Club with B.J. as our head coach,” said general manager Mike Jacobs.

“B.J. has a tremendous amount of experience that spans all levels of soccer at the highest levels of the game and has excelled throughout the MLS ecosystem. He is an exceptional leader who gets the most out of the players and teams that he has coached and brings a hard-working and relentless mentality to our club. B.J. is ready for this opportunity to continue to build and develop a winning culture and is the right person to drive our club’s ambition for success.”

Callaghan takes over from Gary Smith, who was fired in May. Smith spent seven seasons as head coach, and had been the only person to hold that position in franchise history.

Nashville currently sits in seventh place in the 15-team Eastern Conference.

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‘The first half is my fault’: Callaghan holds hand up after USMNT’s Gold Cup ends early

Callaghan accepted blame for a lineup change that did not pan out

The U.S. men’s national team is out of the Gold Cup one game earlier than planned, and there seems to be a race to take the blame.

Panama ended the USMNT’s run, surviving a six-round penalty tiebreaker after a 1-1 extra time draw. That was widely seen as a fair result: Panama gave the U.S. immense trouble in the early going, and saw multiple good looks in a more even second half denied by close calls from referee Walter López or strong saves from Matt Turner.

Still, an early Gold Cup exit is rare for the USMNT, who had made the last three tournament finals and entered this edition as defending champions.

Plenty of players indicated that they felt like the loss was on their shoulders. Despite Panama’s goal coming after a badly executed offside trap, Turner told TUDN that Iván Anderson’s strike was his responsibility. Jesús Ferreira, who scored the team’s dramatic equalizer but then missed his penalty in the shootout, looked positively dejected as the team trudged off the pitch at Snapdragon Stadium.

However, if you ask interim coach B.J. Callaghan, the problems all started with an experimental lineup that resulted in a draining first half. While Panama gained confidence, the USMNT had to chase on legs that were already heavy after going to extra time against Canada in the quarterfinals.

“The first half is my fault. I didn’t set the team up the way they should have been set up,” Callaghan — whose future is unclear as Gregg Berhalter returns to the USMNT helm in the coming days — told reporters after the match.

Callaghan opted for a 4-3-3 to start the match, which is not out of the ordinary for the USMNT, but an attempt to start both Ferreira and Brandon Vazquez backfired. Rather than using a high press to create while its two top goal threats were both on the field, the USMNT struggled as Panama pulled their shape apart repeatedly. Aside from Cade Cowell’s shot off the post in the first seconds of the match, los Canaleros were fully in charge as the teams headed off at the break.

Callaghan: ‘I take responsibility’

“We tried to remain [true] to our identity,” explained Callaghan. “We want to go out and press. I thought Panama, they’re a really well-coached team, they’re really experienced, they’ve been together for a long time. They were able to cause us challenges, and obviously in the wide areas, it was difficult for us to get to those long diagonals in the first half. [We] expended a lot of energy. I take responsibility and accountability for that.”

At halftime, Callaghan rang the changes: the 4-3-3 was exchanged for a 4-2-3-1, with Ferreira playing underneath Vazquez, Cowell switching to the right wing, and Djordje Mihailovic moving from a central role to play out on the left. With more true width, the USMNT had an easier time containing Panama’s wingbacks while keeping numbers around influential Houston Dynamo midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla.

“We were just able to make a small adjustment defensively to get some more cover into the wide areas,” said Callaghan. “I thought the guys executed that great, put in another great shift. I thought in the second half [we were] able to control the game a little bit more.”

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USMNT to replace Alan Sonora on Gold Cup roster due to injury

Soñora may not be the only squad change

The U.S. men’s national team had a mostly successful Gold Cup group stage, but the news wasn’t entirely positive.

Shortly after overseeing a second consecutive 6-0 victory, interim coach B.J. Callaghan delivered some unwanted news: midfielder Alan Soñora’s tournament is over due to a hamstring injury.

“In terms of the roster updates, right now, Alan Soñora will be replaced due to a hamstring injury,” Callaghan told reporters after the match. “I don’t have the replacement yet.”

Soñora left the USMNT’s win over St. Kitts and Nevis at halftime, and was not in uniform against the Soca Warriors on Sunday.

The rules of the Gold Cup allow teams to replace injured players following their group stage games, up to 24 hours before their quarterfinal match kicks off. That leaves the USMNT until July 8 to make their move.

Per CONCACAF, the injury must be enough to keep a player out of play for at least 15 days, and that severity must be approved by the federation’s medical committee. Tournament regulations also require the USMNT to call up a player from its initial 60-man preliminary roster.

USMNT evaluating others for knockout round

Soñora’s status may be clear, but Callaghan has other players to monitor in the coming days.

U.S. Soccer announced earlier on Sunday that Aidan Morris had been granted permission to leave camp for what it called “personal reasons,” and Callaghan declined to offer much detail.

“I don’t have anything further to add to the Aidan Morris issue other than he requested to leave camp for personal reasons, and we granted [that],” said Callaghan, adding that the timetable on the Columbus Crew midfielder’s return is “open.”

Callaghan said he would also be evaluating forward Jordan Morris and center back Miles Robinson, calling both “day-to-day.” Robinson started for the USMNT in their 6-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, playing 45 minutes before being replaced by Matt Miazga.

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USMNT coach B.J. Callaghan: Gio Reyna has ‘absolutely risen to the occasion’

“Gio’s performance tonight, is a performance that you expect”

So much of the talk about Gio Reyna and the U.S. men’s national team has focused on off-field issues.

On it? He may well have just delivered a signature performance for the USMNT.

Reyna was stellar as the USMNT confidently defeated Canada 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League final, getting the assist on both goals before leaving at halftime with an injury.

The assists were the deserved end product on a day where Reyna was borderline unstoppable. He finished the match with three key passes, eight duels, a successful tackle, and an expected assists total of 0.63 (significantly ahead of any other player on either team).

For U.S. interim coach B.J. Callaghan, that’s the standard the USMNT expects the Borussia Dortmund man to meet.

“Specifically Gio’s performance tonight, is a performance that you expect,” Callaghan told reporters after the match. “It shows his quality that’s on the field, his ball security, his ability to take on two or three players and connect passes.”

One stated reason that Reyna didn’t see as much playing time at the World Cup — a choice from Gregg Berhalter that set off a domino effect involving scandal, disgrace, and a protracted coach hiring process that ended right back where U.S. Soccer started — was that he didn’t offer the defensive effort and cover the team needed.

Per Callaghan, this Nations League window saw Reyna step up on that front in a big way.

“What I’m really proud of him [about], is we’ve challenged Gio to do more work off the ball on the defensive side,” explained Callaghan. “He’s absolutely risen to the occasion.”

Reyna injury status unclear

All that said, Reyna left the match in some clear pain after a tackle just before halftime. Luca de la Torre replaced him during the break. While Reyna was able to cheer the USMNT on from the bench as the half wore on, he was moving very gingerly even with a brace.

Callaghan said that while he had a general sense of what the problem was, the severity remained unclear.

“The only thing I know currently at [this] time, is that it’s a calf injury,” said Callaghan. “I don’t know the severity of it. We haven’t had an opportunity to do a full [evaluation].”

Callaghan chuckled at the idea of how the team’s celebrations were delaying that examination, but added that he was sure Reyna wouldn’t have come off if he could keep going.

“I can tell you that he would be someone that wants to be on the field,” said the USMNT coach. “For him to come off the field, it must be something because he’s not wanting to want to come off. But I don’t have specifics regarding it, I can just tell you that it’s a calf.”

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Callaghan ‘couldn’t be more proud’ of USMNT after dominant, wild win over Mexico

Eyes on the prize for Callaghan, USMNT

The CONCACAF Nations League semifinal between the U.S. men’s national team and Mexico got hairy, but for B.J. Callaghan at least, it’s also the source of plenty of pride.

The USMNT steamrolled a truly hapless El Tri, winning 3-0 in Las Vegas to advance to Sunday’s Nations League final against Canada.

Amid a chaotic atmosphere that saw referee Iván Barton hand out four red cards and nine more yellows, and on a night that saw The Athletic report that Gregg Berhalter will return as the team’s head coach during the game, Callaghan told reporters after the match that he was delighted with what the group delivered

“I couldn’t be more proud of the performance that our guys put in tonight,” stated Callaghan. “The support that we have, in our culture, gives all of us a nice sense of calm and understanding that we go through our processes to prepare each time to play match. And again, I can’t be more proud of the performance that those guys put in today.”

‘Next man up’ key in looking ahead to final

Callaghan fielded several questions about the acrimonious nature of the game, which devolved in the second half and finished with both teams down to nine men. From the interim USMNT manager, it was no real surprise.

“These are rivalry games, these are derby games, things like this happen across across the world,” said Callaghan. “What happened [tonight], it comes from a good place. They care about each other so much in that locker room that they’re standing up for each other. Sometimes, does it have an issue where we take a red card? Yeah, but when you know where it comes from, you can accept it.”

For Callaghan there is something instructional to take away from losing Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest to red cards, but it’s also an opportunity for the rest of the squad to come through for the group.

“It’s a learning lesson for us. Because now we’re gonna go play in the final [without Dest and McKennie], but it’s also something that we preach: next man up,” explained Callaghan. “I think the game is always at high intensity. High-stakes games, knockout games, you’re gonna see emotions, always. I think there were moments from both teams that we could have handled better.”

The bottom line for Callaghan — who declined to comment at length about the refereeing or to declare his team the new “kings of CONCACAF” — was to stay extremely process-oriented. On that front, in a game where the USMNT created several big chances while holding Mexico to a shocking one shot on goal (and only five total attempts), he had nothing but positive things to say.

“In terms of the feeling, the feeling within the group is that we’re very satisfied with the performance that we put on tonight.”

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USMNT coach Callaghan explains Brooks omission from Gold Cup roster

There will be no USMNT return for the 30-year-old this summer

John Brooks will not be making his U.S. men’s national team return this summer.

The Hoffenheim defender was not included in the USMNT’s 23-man roster for the Gold Cup on Monday, meaning his wait for a first cap since September 2021 will continue.

The 30-year-old has been in strong form for Hoffenheim since moving from Benfica in January, becoming a fixture in the club’s lineup and helping it avoid relegation from the Bundesliga.

Brooks declared his interest in a return to the national team in April, saying he was hopeful he could still play a part as the team looked ahead to a home World Cup in 2026.

Speaking to U.S. Soccer’s website, interim head coach B.J. Callaghan addressed Brooks’ absence from a Gold Cup squad that saw 16 of its 23 players come from MLS.

Callaghan affirmed Brooks’ desire to return to the USMNT, but said that he and his staff felt that a full preseason with Hoffenheim would be more beneficial to him than participating in the Gold Cup.

“We had a number of good conversations with John. As a starting point, he reiterated his commitment to the national team program and how much it means to him,” Callaghan said. “He is coming off a season at Hoffenheim where he was a key member of their fight to avoid relegation.

“This summer he will have the chance to participate in a full preseason with them for the first time, so we felt in this particular moment it’s best for him to take advantage of that opportunity and be performing at his highest level in the upcoming season to position himself to contribute to the national team in the future.”

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USMNT names MLS-heavy roster for 2023 Gold Cup

Of the 23 players, 16 come from MLS while five will do double duty with the Nations League

U.S. men’s national team interim head coach B.J. Callaghan has named his 23-man roster for the 2023 Gold Cup.

Of the 23 players, 16 will come from MLS teams as most of the USMNT’s biggest names will participate in the CONCACAF Nations League this month and skip the Gold Cup.

The USMNT will be aiming to defend its titles in both competitions.

Five players have been named to the rosters for both competitions: Sean Johnson, Matt Turner, Miles Robinson, Alan Soñora and Alex Zendejas.

Callaghan has opted for a youthful squad, with an average age of just over 25 and two players who participated in the recently completed U-20 World Cup: Gabriel Slonina and Cade Cowell.

Notably, there are also six dual nationals who will be cap-tied to the USMNT should they play at the Gold Cup: Soñora, Slonina, Cowell, Julian Gressel, Aidan Morris, and Brandon Vazquez.

Morris may be the most notable name on that list, given his recent admission that he was considering playing for Canada. Last week, Canada head coach John Herdman admitted that Morris was likely to stick with the USMNT.

The USMNT will open this year’s Gold Cup on June 24 when it faces Jamaica at Soldier Field in Chicago. That will be followed by a match against the winner of preliminary game No. 9 (one of Curaçao, Saint Kitts and Nevis, French Guiana, or Sint Maarten) on June 28 at CITYPARK in St. Louis. The U.S. will conclude Group A play with a match against Trinidad and Tobago at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on July 2.

USMNT Gold Cup roster (club; caps/goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (Toronto FC/CAN; 12/0), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG; 1/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 26/0)

DEFENDERS (8): DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution; 2/0), Aaron Long (LAFC; 32/3), Matt Miazga (FC Cincinnati; 23/1), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy; 2/0), Bryan Reynolds (Roma/ITA; 3/0), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 21/3), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; 1/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 78/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 9/0), Djordje Mihailovic (AZ Alkmaar/NED; 6/1), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 32/3), James Sands (New York City FC; 8/0), Alan Soñora (FC Juárez/MEX; 2/0)

FORWARDS (6): Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes; 3/0), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 18/8), Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 2/0), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 52/11), Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati; 3/1), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 3/1)

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Mark McKenzie responds to USMNT snub in meme form

The defender just missed the cut for the USMNT’s Nations League roster

Mark McKenzie responded to his U.S. national team snub with one of the oldest memes in the book.

Despite a standout campaign in Belgium with Genk, McKenzie was not on the 24-player squad for the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League matches later this month.

Interim USMNT coach B.J. Callaghan selected Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman and Auston Trusty as his four center backs, with McKenzie barely missing the cut.

In response to missing the roster, McKenzie posted an image on his Instagram stories that any terminally online person would recognize. We’ll call it the “bemused guy surrounded by question marks.”

Callaghan: McKenzie was not happy

Callaghan, who coached McKenzie during his time with the Philadelphia Union, said he called the defender personally to deliver the news.

“This is a guy that I’ve known since he was 12 years old,” Callaghan said on a conference call with reporters. “So it’s a hard, hard conversation to have with him. I explained the reasons. I can tell you that he was understanding, he was professional but at the same time, what I would expect is that he wasn’t happy.”

McKenzie was also named to the USMNT’s 60-man Gold Cup preliminary roster on Thursday, and he appears more likely to make the final cut for that tournament.

“I reassured him that I think there’s a pathway for him to continue with the men’s national team,” Callaghan continued. “This is in no way a door shut for him. And I outlined some different ideas and options for him. I know he’s coming off an unbelievable club season that he had with Genk, and he’s going to have way more men’s national team opportunities.”

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USMNT using Nations League, Gold Cup to ‘pressure test’ player pool

Callaghan is focused on creating “a wide, deep player pool” for the 2026 World Cup

The U.S. men’s national team is facing a busy summer, and it sounds like fans should expect a lot of players being tested.

Interim head coach B.J. Callaghan said as much on Thursday, repeatedly emphasizing that one of his major objectives in the coming months is to expand and deepen the player pool with an eye on the 2026 World Cup.

“The main objective that we were trying to accomplish here with the Nations League and looking to the Gold Cup, is how we can expose the most amount of players in our player pool,” Callaghan told reporters in a press conference shortly after releasing his CONCACAF Nations League roster.

While the Nations League squad includes some USMNT stalwarts like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Antonee Robinson, there are also three uncapped players (Folarin Balogun, Drake Callender, and Josh Cohen) and four more with three or fewer caps.

The newly-appointed coach noted that in the absence of World Cup qualifying, it will be vital “to make them battle-tested in knockout type of games, tournament group play type of games.”

“It’s two big tournaments for us,” said Callaghan. “An important piece for us [is] to use as many players as possible, to make sure that as we continue on this journey to the 2026 World Cup, these big moments that come across, we have the most experienced player pool as possible.”

Callaghan: ‘Pressure testing’ key

Callaghan made it clear that the focus in the coming months will include identifying new contributors and helping youth national team players take the next step up the ladder.

“It’s the same reason that Mikey Varas is down with the U-20 group, that is a really strong group and doing a lot and having a lot of success,” said Callaghan. “It’s our responsibility to have as many players exposed to high-level, knockout stage, group stage type of environments. That’s going to extend beyond the Gold Cup as well, when we look into 2024 and 2025, when you’re looking at the Olympics and you’re looking at Copa America and all of these tournaments.”

For the 41-year-old, making sure the team is ready for high-pressure environments — especially as the schedule will lack the cauldron that is qualifying in CONCACAF — is an imperative. That means both from the angle of analyzing individual players, and in terms of readying a robust internal culture for a World Cup in just over three years’ time.

“You’re pressure testing your on-field ability, you’re pressure testing each individual’s ability to handle the pressure, and you’re also pressure testing the culture, right?” explained Callaghan. “That’s what holds everything together and allows you to be successful.”

“We don’t know what the 2026 player pool is going to look like,” said Callaghan. “This is what we’re dealing with in the short term, but it’s a much broader picture of how we can prepare a wide, deep player pool for competition as we prepare for 2026.”

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Callaghan eyes Balogun-Pepi battle for USMNT striker role

Despite huge expectations, nothing will be handed to the newest member of the USMNT

New U.S. men’s national team head coach B.J. Callaghan has said he’s looking forward to watching Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi compete for the No. 9 role in the CONCACAF Nations League.

Balogun and Pepi were the only true strikers named to the 24-man initial roster on Thursday, with the U.S. set for a semifinal against Mexico on June 15 and a potential final three days later against either Canada or Panama.

It was the first USMNT call-up for Balogun, who officially committed to the U.S. in mid-May. Pepi, meanwhile, overcame a World Cup roster snub and tough start to his Augsburg career to have a strong campaign on loan at Groningen. The 20-year-old scored three goals in two games in his USMNT return in March.

Callaghan, who took over as interim coach from Anthony Hudson earlier this week, said that Balogun will have nothing handed to him with the USMNT despite a 20-goal season with Reims in Ligue 1.

“His expectations of himself are as high or higher than the public, but he still has to come in and compete,” Callaghan told the media on a conference call.

“Ricardo Pepi is a guy who’s coming off a great season and has scored big goals for us already. It’s going to be fun to watch these guys compete. As professional athletes and guys that want to make an impression on the U.S. men’s national team, that’s what you want. You want competition, and I expect this to be a great camp for both of them.”

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Ahead of Balogun’s first camp, Callaghan said that he challenged the 21-year-old forward to integrate himself into the group as quickly as possible.

“He’s excited to come in with the group. He’s someone that I spoke to about embracing the brotherhood that we have,” Callaghan said. “It’s a welcoming environment, the guys are going to welcome him in. They’re all excited and he’s excited.

“But at the same time, I challenged him. I said, ‘Listen, you have to put yourself out there, and you have to integrate with the group. We’re going to work as hard as we can to integrate you and at the same time, it’s your responsibility on the field and off the field to to become part of this group as quick as we can.’

“We have a lot of case studies of guys that have come in and been super successful, and I expect nothing different with Flo.”

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