BY RALPH VENTRE
Kevin Callahan delivered his answer without hesitation.
“We’re ready for this,” said the only head football coach that Monmouth has ever known.
Callahan was there at the Jersey Shore in 1992 when the Hawks launched a Division I-AA non-scholarship program.
Thirty years later, he’s taking his team into the Colonial Athletic Association – a conference that has routinely featured multiple nationally-ranked top-25 teams from week to week.
With Villanova leading the way at No. 6 overall, four CAA members appear in the 2022 preseason edition of Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.
“We’re excited about this [move into the CAA]. We’re not intimidated by this move at all. We feel we belong here and we’re ready to go compete,” said Callahan as he held court during Monmouth’s Preseason Media Day on the West Long Branch, NJ campus.
“Were we ready back in 2012? Probably not, but now we are. We’re not backing down from the challenge,” said Callahan.
Even as a member of a limited-scholarship conference in 2011 and 2012, Callahan’s Hawks posted victories over CAA programs in consecutive seasons.
On September 17, 2011, Monmouth recorded a 20-9 win at Villanova. The Hawks welcomed Rhode Island to the Jersey Shore on September 8, 2012, thrilling the home crowd with a 41-6 masterpiece.
Callahan, who ranks sixth amongst active FCS coaches in career victories (173), suggested that the 2017 season was the turning point in terms of the Hawks’ ability to consistently compete amongst the national heavyweights.
“It took us some years to build up to [the FCS scholarship limit] and 2017 is when we finally got to the same level as everybody else,” said Callahan, who was twice named the Big South Conference Coach of the Year since 2019.
During the last five seasons of their Big South tenure, the Hawks qualified for the Division I FCS Playoffs three times.
Callahan’s confidence in the 2022 Hawks is undoubtedly boosted by the return of starting quarterback Tony Muskett.
Despite not yet ever taking a snap in a CAA game, Muskett earned a place on the preseason all-conference team.
During his final Big South season, the 6-foot-2 signal caller accounted for a 65.1 completion percentage while averaging 7.2 yards per pass attempt. He threw 25 touchdown passes and was intercepted only six times over an 11-game sample.
Now, it’s off to a new frontier for Monmouth and its Preseason All-CAA quarterback.
“Every week’s a battle [in the CAA]. There’s realistically like five or six teams every year that are good enough to be playoff football teams,” said Muskett.
Muskett and the Hawks kick off the season with a conference road game against former FCS national champion New Hampshire on September 1.
Monmouth returns to the Jersey Shore to welcome Patriot League member Fordham for the home opener on September 10.
TALKING PIGSKIN 
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