At his introductory news conference as the new Lehigh University football coach Monday afternoon, Kevin Cahill was asked if he remembered a 63-35 Mountain Hawks win over Yale at the Yale Bowl in 2016.
Not only did Cahill, who was a Yale assistant in 2016, remember the game, but he also remembered that Lehigh set a Yale Bowl record with 524 yards passing and then Mountain Hawks quarterback Brad Mayes threw for a school record tying six touchdown passes . He also remembered the name of Lehigh’s star receivers that season, Troy Pelletier and Gatlin Casey, who did most of the damage.
“We’ve got to get back to that kind of success,” Cahill said.
That’s what Lehigh fans, alumni and current players want as well as Cahill was hired to replace Tom Gilmore, who stepped down two days after a loss to Lafayette on Nov. 19 capped a 2-9 season.
Offensive explosions like the one at Yale in 2016 have been non-existent in recent years and big wins and championships have been elusive as well.
The 44-year-old Cahill is tasked with turning around a program that went 9-27 in four seasons under Gilmore. In 2021, the Mountain Hawks averaged just 11.5 points per game and didn’t score a touchdown for six games. Last season, they averaged 17.2 ppg.
Cahill had been an associate head coach, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator at Yale the past five seasons and had been with the Yale program in some capacity since 2012 and helped to develop some of the best offenses and quarterbacks in the Ivy League.
“It seemed to be they were looking for an offensive guy, and I’m very fortunate that with 70-plus applicants to be picked to lead this program that I got this job and put in this situation,” Cahill said. “There were plenty of qualified candidates for this job and I just happened to be the one that fit it best, and I appreciate them sorting through all of that and I’m really honored to be here. I know that this program has had its share of great people as head coaches.”
Cahill communicated with two of them on Monday morning, having a phone conversation with Kevin Higgins, who led the program from 1994-2000 and is currently an assistant at Wake Forest. He also had a text exchange with Pete Lembo, who was Lehigh’s head coach from 2001-05 and is now an assistant at South Carolina.
“The history here is really deep and I’ll be leaning on those guys as well to learn how they ran things,” Cahill said.
Cahill figures to be a busy guy in the coming days and weeks.
The first signing day for college recruits is Wednesday and he has to tie up loose ends on that front while also getting to know his players and building a coaching staff.
“Staffing is always a big question when there’s turnover,” Cahill said. “There are a lot of people here who have done a great job of keeping this place relevant during a time of change. I personally don’t know many of them. But I want to get to know them over the next few weeks. Are there coaches I’d like to bring with me? Yes, but it’s not that easy. There’s a lot of value here, I understand that. I want to bring some value with me. But it’s a matter of what’s the right fit and the right timing and open communication with all of them.”
Part of the new challenges facing all college coaches is dealing with the transfer portal.
”Everybody is trying to navigate the portal and everybody’s interested in it and looking to see if there’s something else out there, but they find out a lot of times that the best thing for them and the best opportunity is to be where they’re at ,” Cahill said. “So my first priority is getting to know our players on the roster and understand them. So, my priorities right now are to recruit the kids coming out of high school but also to recruit the kids on our roster and get them to understand that we want them here and want them to be part of something special here.”
Sue Troyan, who resigned as women’s basketball coach last April to gain a position of prominence in the Lehigh athletic office, steered the search and hiring committee. She believes the program found the guy who can get Lehigh football back to a place of prominence.
She said there was no shortage of viable candidates.
“We had some really strong candidates on campus and Kevin separated himself when we talked to a number of kids he had coached at Yale,” Troyan said. “What came through was the relationship piece. He does an outstanding job of developing relationships and that impacts recruiting and it impacts player development and it impacts staff development. That came through consistently with every reference we talked to. He’s also obviously exceptional with the offensive piece as well.”
In 2022, the Bulldogs went 8-2 overall and 6-1 in Ivy League play to capture their third Ivy crown in five seasons. The Bulldogs had the top-ranked offense in the Ivy League and ranked in the top 25 in the FCS in total offense for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Under Cahill’s guidance in the fall, Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms thrived in his first full season as a starter. He threw for 1,660 yards and 14 touchdowns and added 745 yards and six touchdowns on the ground on the way to winning the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Cahill came to Yale following four seasons on the staff at the University of Maine, including three as special teams coordinator, while also coaching the wide receivers and running backs. He helped the Black Bears to a pair of FCS playoff appearances and mentored six all-conference performers, including All-Americans Jared Turcotte and Jhamal Fluellen.
During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Cahill was at Murray State University, where he coached the wide receivers and was the racers’ recruiting coordinator. He mentored two all-conference student-athletes.
Cahill’s first Division I experience was at the University of Tennessee-Martin in 2004 and 2005, where he helped the program record its first winning season in 13 years. He began his coaching career at Maine Maritime Academy in 2001 before returning to his alma mater, Springfield College for two seasons.
Cahill was a three-year starter at quarterback and a three-year starting pitcher on the baseball team at Springfield College. He helped lead Springfield to a pair of NCAA playoff appearances and was recognized twice as the ECAC Division III New England Player of the Year.
Cahill said he has learned at every stop along the way.
“At Yale, I learned that relationships are key,” he said. “I learned how to treat people. Xs and Os are good, but culture really matters. You have to build it from the ground up. It’s hard and it takes time, but that’s truly how you’re going to win.”
Born: Dec. 2, 1978.
Wife: Carah. Children: Sons: Patrick and Thomas; Daughter: Elizabeth.
High School: New York Mills (NY)
College: Springfield College 2001 (BS – Physical Education); Springfield College 2004 (ME – Athletic Administration).
Coaching resume
2001: Maine Maritime Academy – quarterbacks, fullbacks, wide receivers coach
2002-2003: Springfield College – Quarterbacks Coach, Graduate Assistant
2004-2005 University of Tennessee-Martin, wide receivers coach
2006-2007 Murray State University, Wide Receivers Coach, Recruiting Coordinator
2008 University of Maine, running backs coach
2009-2011 University of Maine, Special Teams Coordinator, Wide Receivers Coach
2012-2013 Yale University, Special Teams Coordinator, Wide Receivers Coach
2014-2017 Yale University, Assistant Head Coach, Passing Game Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
2018-2022 Yale University, Associate Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
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