Boys lacrosse turn to alum
Matt Cawley, ’06, returns to take over Mustangs
Another Mullen alumnus is returning to campus.
Matt Cawley, Class of 2006, is the new head coach of Mullen’s boys lacrosse program.
“I think it will be a good thing,” he said.
So does Mustangs athletic director Vince Massey.
“Mullen is excited to welcome Matt Cawley back home,” Massey said. “Matt had a tremendous college career. His familiarity with Centennial League lacrosse will definitely help his transition to this position. He is a true professional who is dedicated to bringing success to Mullen lacrosse. We welcome Matt back to Mullen with open arms.”
Cawley, also the son of Frank Cawley, Mullen’s admissions director and head coach of girls basketball, was a four-year participant in Mustangs lacrosse as a defenseman, three on varsity. He termed it as “a rollercoaster” with three head coaches. Still, his senior season he was part of a Mustangs group that made the quarterfinals, lost to Arapahoe in overtime, “and it was the first year that Mullen was considered to be a contender ... sort of the team that laid a lot of ground work for the program.”
An all-stater as a Mustang, Cawley went on to Fort Lewis, where he was a two-time Division II All-American as a Skyhawk.
Employed with financial services, his coaching experience includes a season with Mullen freshmen, on the youth level and a four-year stint at Smoky Hill in Aurora as defensive coordinator. The Buffaloes head coach is Gerry McCullar, another Mullen alum.
“The lacrosse coaching community is pretty small,” Cawley said, adding that his appointment “happened fast.”
He knows he has work to do with the program, which has had only one winning record over the past five seasons and was 4-11 last spring.
“Absolutely,” Cawley said, “and there’s really only one place I would have ever considered being the head coach and taking over the program.
“For better or worse, the goal right out of the shoot is to make Mullen a premier program to compete on the state-championship level every year.”
In comparing the game now to when he played as a schoolboy a dozen years ago, Cawley said “the talent I see at the high-school level is so far above and beyond from when I was there.”
Immediately, his thoughts will center on putting together a staff and coincide with his longer look into the future of Mustangs lacrosse.
“One thing I have is a vision and it’s my goal to bring the Mullen lacrosse community back to Mullen,” he said. “The successful student-athletes we had who played come back and the vision there is to be a role model for these kids. You tell them, ‘This is the way you do it, this is how you be the successful person at the end of the road. It’s the MLL (Major League lacrosse), not the NFL.’ You cherish them (the days of playing), but build yourself into a good human being.”
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