Telegraph photo by TOM KING Bishop Guertin girls soccer coach Pat Mulcahy said he'll decidein May whether to return to coach the Cardinals this fall or stay in his new role as a coach at IMG Academy in Florida.

Right now, even in a pandemic, Pat Mulcahy is in sports heaven.

He hopped on a plane in late January and headed down to Bradenton, Fla.to take a new position as the head coach of the Under-16 girls soccer program at noted sports academy IMG.

How will that affect his future as the Bishop Guertin High School girls soccer coach?

TBD.

Mulcahy has told all his New Hampshire affiliations originally that he’d be back in June for either his creation,the Granite State Games if they can still be held, or to take care of some personal things, or both. And then “When I’m coming back in June, I’ll then have decided am I coming back to New Hampshire for good, or am I staying for the Granite State Games and then go down to Florida for good,” he told The Telegraph from Bradenton.

That may be earlier now that the GSG are in clear jeopardy of not taking place; Mulcahy said a decision on the Games would be made in early May. And that’s when he may make the decision on his own future as well. he may make his decision by sometime in May. And the Cardinals evidently await his decision, as do many other members of the high school soccer community who would likely leap at the job. He’s coached the BG girls for seven years and prior to that was the boys coach.

“That was one of the first phone calls I made,” Mulcahy said, referring to Cards athletic director Pete Paladino. “In full transparency, the BG program was one of the main reasons why I strongly considered not coming down here. I had so much success in the beginning, then we took a little bit of a dip,and now we had a really good year (making the Division I semis) and next year could be even better. … That’s where I kind of left it with Pete.”

Paladino told the Telegraph that he’ll be prepared either way, and understands the situation.

“He’s done a great job for the school,” Paladino said of Mulcahy. “I would certainly want him to make the best decsion for himself.”

Mulcahy said he probably would have made up his mind and informed everyone by now whether he wants his coaching career to be in Florida or New Hampshire, but the pandemic has made things more complicated in both states. So he will ask for patience for the next few weeks.

The IMG opportunity came out of the blue in January and created a whirlwind for Mulcahy. An assistant coach from his playing days at the Univeristy of Rhode Island, Scott Dean, is the senior VP of Atheltics at IMG and randomly said hello to Mulcahy over the holidays on social media.

“He asked if I’d be interested in a job,” Mulcahy said, adding that he told him no, he was fine with several things going on in New Hampshire with his BG team, his business In the Net Sports Academy, and his late June Granite State Games that he founded and still directs.

The next day, Dean called again, with news that there was a sudden opening to coach the Under-16 girls team. Again, Mulcahy said he would pass.

But Dean was persistent. He convinved Mulcahy to at least fly down to Florida to check out the school, which Mulcahy was somewhat familiar with and had visited while he was at URI. But that was several years ago, and IMG has grown exponentially since then.

Mulcahy, thanks to his visit, became more interested. He asked Dean what the timeline would be. “I need you to start in 10 days,” he said.

Gulp.

“To make a long story short, I took the job and re-arranged my entire life in those 10 days,” Mulcahy said.

A lot of that re-arranging involved conversations with his business interests, fellow board members of the Granite State Games, and, of course, Paladino.

“I left on really good terms and everybody knew exactly what the situation is,” Mulcahy said, as he arrived at IMG on Feb. 1. “It’s a different level of player, it’s a different level of kid (at IMG).”

And, before the pandemic hit, he was in sports/soccer heaven.

“The first month was a whirlwind,” Mulcahy said. “There’s a lot of stuff you do to help make these kids faster, stronger, more elite. The environment is world class, specatacular. You can’t find a better program in the country for sure, let alone the world. It’s very cool.”

Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck. But there were students still on the IMG campus that couldn’t go home because they’re either international students or their parents didn’t want them on a plane.

“Those kids are still training everyday,” Mulcahy said. “We help them from a distance, but we’re still somewhat involved, from a distance of course.”

Mulcahy said they break the athletes into small groups and give instructions from the stands. “They’re in lockdown, obviously,” he said.

“And the other athletes who went homea the on line program we have them doing is unprecedented. It’s four hours every day of soccer activity, then three hours every day of academics. “It’s incredible,” Mulcahy said, adding there’s a speed and strength program they log on to, then a film study, and then there’s nutrition training, leadership training, etc. Academics are in the afternoon.

And the schedule is six, not five, days a week. “It definitely prepares these kids for the next level, without a doubt,” he said. “Right now, it’s a very interesting dynamic to have kids on campus but also worrying about the kids who are home.”

It sounds as if it will be tough for Mulcahy to not return to Florida after he comes back in May.

“(Dean) knew once I got on campus the facility sells itself,” Mulcahy said. “The weight room is like the University of Alabama weight room, the New England Patriots weight room. There’s three Gatorade Sports Science Centers in the entire worlds and one of them is at IMG. World Class. Dozens and dozens and dozens of professional teams come here for training.

“I love challenges, I love to work with kids, love to make a difference. I talked to some of my mentors, it was split 50-50. I’ve worked really hard to create some cool things in New Hampshire so to give that up would be very difficult.”

Especially the BG coaching job.

“Even when we had a couple of down years, I’ve never been around a group of kids I haven’t enjoyed,” he said. “We’ve had such good leadership with the girls and I’ve never had any issues. Regardless of whether we win 18 games or six games, it’s always been fun for me.”

But the IMG opportunity is a chance for Mulcahy to improve as a coach.

“It got me out of my comfort zone,” Mulcahy said. “I’ve been at BG and In The Net for so long, I can do them with my eyes closed. I know what works and what doesn’t work. Coming into this, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot about the college recruiting process.

“A lot of kids back home have been asking me about it. They’re learning things from me down here which is exciting. … It’s a professional job. You’re a professional coach, without a doubt.”

And in the next few weeks, Mulcahy has to decide where his professional address will be.

“I’ll have to come back by June anyway,” Mulcahy said with a chuckle. “I’ve got a house full of stuff to take care of.”

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Speaking of coaches, Campbell High School next year won’t have to do something it’s had to do the last three springs – hire a baseball coach.

Had there been a spring season, the Cougars were set, as they hired their fourth baseball coach in the last four years, in former Herndon (Va.) High School coach Chris Metz.

Metz reportedly relocated to New Hampshire last summer when he wife accepted a job in the state and according to Campbell athletic director Josh Knight, he now teaches at Winnisquam. Metz guided Herndon to the Virginia state regionals for the first time since 2015 last year. Knight says the hire is good for next spring.

“He has a lot of experience coaching in Virginia at a high level baseball school,” Knight said. “I think he’s going to be great for the program.”

Of course, stability is something Knight and the Cougars want for their program, which was the model of success and stability for several years under Jim Gorham. But Gorham as expected retired after winning the Division III title in 2017. His successor in 2018, Jim Cardello, coached just one season and so did Drew Gora last year. The Cougars made the Division III tourney in both seasons, but both coaches stepped down for family reasons.

“Definitely, (stability) was one of our big concerns when we were interviewing,” Knight said. “We think Chris will be great going forward, working with the youth programs and building a program.”

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Right before the NHIAA cancelled the spring season, a high school post-season all-star event had already been shelved hours earlier in an announcement last Thursday: the New Hampshire-Vermont Lions Twin State Boys and Girls Lacrosse Games.

Sponsored by the Hanover Lions, the groups board of directors met earlier this week and pulled the plug.

“With the uncertainty surround everything these days, the Club felt it did not want to do anything that might potentially endanger anyone,” event director William H. Johnson said in a statement, noting that at that time neither state had made a decision on its high school seasons. “With the preparation and lead time needed to organize the event, it just didn’t make sense to wait too much longer to make the decision.”

Johnson added it’s tough for both potential All-Stars as well as the Lions Club, which “depends on the event as their primary charitable fundraising means for the year. It is for the best.”

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