BJ Callaghan strikes all the right notes in Nashville SC introduction

NASHVILLE, TN – Newly-announced Nashville SC head coach BJ Callaghan couldn’t stop smiling during his Geodis Park introduction to local media and a select group of fans. The 43-year-old’s energy was infectious, a stark contrast to the malaise that has surrounded the fifth-year team in recent months.

After parting ways with long-term head coach Gary Smith in May, they’ve continued to slide down the Eastern Conference table. Callaghan takes over a side in 12th place in the East, a side in legitimate danger of missing the playoffs for the first time ever. Watching Callaghan’s calmly commanding yet congenial Nashville media debut, though, fans could be forgiven for catching a stray dose of optimism.

“As a as someone who’s an assistant coach all the time, you need someone to take a chance on you,” Callaghan smiled from the podium at Geodis’s Transcard Premier Club. “…I’m already at work. I’m only going to continue to work harder, and the group collectively is going to be a group that will represent the people of Nashville, the fans of Nashville and be a group that you can be proud of each night that you come out and watch our team play.”  

As is tradition for new coaches, Callaghan and Nashville’s front office are promising a proactive, front-foot approach, a shift in style that is moving on from Gary Smith’s defense-first approach and a new look, a look Callaghan has dubbed “controlled aggression”.

“When we’re with the ball, we want to be a team that unbalances and disorganizes the opponent in the opportunity to be able to play forward, dictate the tempo, play free, and create goal scoring opportunities,” Callaghan said. “And at the same time, when we’re without the ball, we want to be a team that’s dominant. We want to be a team that’s pressing the opponent into mistakes so that we can create goal scoring opportunities… We want to simplify this complex game for them in an effort to give them the confidence to go out and perform and, you know, win games and pursue postseason play and pursue silverware.”

Every coach promises this. Callaghan actually has a track record that backs it up. In his 12 months as interim U.S. Men’s National Team manager, his side scored 28 goals in seven matches, winning five and taking home the 2023 Concacaf Nations League trophy.

“I think you saw the best of both worlds when he saw the U.S. team play last summer,” said Mike Jacobs, Nashville SC’s general manager and the driving force behind the hire. “When I talked to players, not only guys like Walker Zimmerman and Shaq Moore in our team, but even the likes of Tyler Adams, they talked about the best version of U.S. Soccer in what you saw in the era last summer under BJ’s guidance.”

Certainly, Callaghan and Nashville are striving for success in 2024, both in the upcoming Leagues Cup (remember their run to the final last year after an awful month in MLS play?) and in their remaining nine MLS matches. But this is the start of a long-term reset, the next evolution in the club’s history and a more holistic and intentional approach with one of the most exciting up-and-coming managers in American soccer.

“We’re focused on really creating a system. Building on the the good that’s here to make it better,” said Callaghan. “The sustained success that’s already here, we want to build on that. Part of building on that is to continue to evolve this identity – the Nashville playing way – on how we play on the field how we act on and off the field and that beginning part has already started on the training field.”

The highlight of the afternoon was saved for last, when Isla, Nashville SC’s Junior Reporter, posited the question of how Callaghan keeps all his players happy when he can only pick 11 starters. Callaghan’s response was perfect.

“You just had to ask me the hardest question of the entire press conference,” he beamed. “That’s a bright future, bright future.”

“What we want them to do is to learn that they are playing for something bigger than themselves,” he continued. “We have a thing that we say: be a good person and be a good teammate, right? And so when they know that they’re playing for somebody bigger than themselves, which is for the city of Nashville and for NSC and the badge that they wear, they understand that it’s okay. Sometimes you don’t get your way, but it’s for the good of the group… And when you earn your moment, you seize it and you take your opportunity and you never know what can happen from there. Thanks for the question!”

Callaghan struck all the right notes on Friday, bringing a new energy and desperately needed sense of optimism and purpose to a frustrated fanbase. Now it’s time to show that same energy, optimism and purpose on the pitch.