After Hall-of-Fame career at BSU, McCarthy is molding the next generation of quarterbacks

Mike McCarthy has put in the time and plenty of miles.

After a Hall-of-Fame quarterback career at Bridgewater State University, McCarthy opted to go the professional route with the Geneva Seahawks of the Nationalliga A, the highest-level American football league in Switzerland, in the spring of 2015.

As a member of the Seahawks, the 24-year-old coached within the team's youth program after he suffered a shoulder injury that lingered until he opted to call it quits on his playing career.

“When I was over there, not a ton of people spoke English. They would understand it, but you had to find other ways to communicate,” McCarthy said. “I had to learn to teach them how to play quarterback through showing them and using different cues. … That opened my eyes.”

When the season ended, his father picked up him up at the airport. It's an afternoon McCarthy remembers in great detail.

His father, Mike – a former defensive back at UConn and quarterback at Martha's Vineyard who was the island's first player to land a Division 1 college football scholarship – turned to him and suggested the idea of running with quarterback skill development full-time.

“I thought it was crazy," McCarthy said with a chuckle. "I was like, ‘Well, maybe.’ I had been doing it, technically. But I didn’t really think of it as something I could do for a living."

McCarthy was on his way back to his family's home on Martha's Vineyard, about to turn the page on football (to an extent) and pursue a future in teaching physical education – which he later did at Norton High for a short period of time.

But a passion was born.

“A week later, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll give this a shot,'" he said. "I never looked back."

McCarthy split his time between being a quarterbacks coach at Bridgewater State and quarterback trainer for approximately 10 to 15 players, as he recalled, for two years until 2017. He then turned his side-gig training into a full-time job.

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“It became a lot to do both. I just knew I had to go one route or the other if I wanted to really perfect and pursue it," McCarthy said of juggling the college job and training. "It was at that point I knew it was my passion to help develop quarterbacks.”

The next year, in 2018, he launched the M2 Quarterback Academy. It began with a foundation of training approximately 25 prospects five to six days per week.

Now, McCarthy, 32, estimates he has trained over 250 quarterbacks within the last year across a dozen states, most prominently in New England. When he's not working with high school players, NFL players have stopped by to get in reps. Among the pros are Brian Hoyer, now the Las Vegas Raiders' backup and a former Patriot; Tim Boyle, Aaron Rodgers' back-up on both the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets; and Tennessee Titans rookie Will Levis.

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“To look back on it now, it’s fun to think about the progression. The first thing I think about are the guys around me that helped make this happen," said McCarthy, who now lives in Plymouth. "We have a phenomenal support staff. I’ve had mentors, coaches that have helped grow this thing to where it is now. I don’t look at it as my success; I look at it as our success, and New England’s success. There’s been so much that has happened, even in the last year, that has been so exciting for New England football and quarterbacks in general.”

McCarthy said 15 players within the M2 QB Academy have received Division 1 offers this offseason, eight of which are coming from Power 5 conferences. The bigger local names are Xaverian's Henry Hasselbeck (who is bound for Michigan State), Cheshire Academy's Dante Reno (who is bound for University of South Carolina) and Central Catholic's Blake Hebert (who is bound for Clemson).

“There’s more guys in the New England area now that are getting Division 1 offers, especially at the quarterback position, than ever before," McCarthy said. "That’s just a reflection of how motivated the guys in New England are now.”

“For years, New England wasn’t a hotbed for football. But I think that’s continued to grow. It’s getting national recognition now. It’s a special thing to see," he said. "There’s a lot of people doing it the right way and I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

McCarthy has several Bridgewater State names in the mix as coaches and assistants, including Bears' head coach Joe Verria; two-year starting BSU quarterback James Cahoon; former Bears QB Stefano Demilia; quarterbacks coach Alex McLaughlin; McCarthy's former center, Cam Moitoza; and assistant coach Greg O’Sullivan.

“I take pride in that: Division 3 guys working hard and trying to do things the right way. Showing that even Division 3 players and coaches, we’re developing guys at the highest level. It’s part of who we are," McCarthy said. "We still go back to the Bridgewater games every year, me and my wife, and we watch games. It was a big part of my life, and still is.”

As a player at Bridgewater State, McCarthy completed 361 of 707 passes (51.1 percent) for 4,672 yards and 41 touchdowns, while rushing for 2,806 yards and 42 touchdowns between 2010-2013. The Bears went 27-14 in his 41 career starts and went to the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Northeast Bowl in 2011 and NCAA Tournament in 2012.

Said McCarthy of his BSU tenure, “It molded me into who I am today."

One of the biggest events on McCarthy's calendar takes place in the local footprint – the M2 QB Academy's annual two-day Showdown Series camp for quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs at Stonehill College every June.

McCarthy said 250 players attended this year's camp, the academy's fifth, and over 50 college coaches between divisions 1 and 3 were in attendance to scout the local talent.

"That's a chance for our guys to get in front of college coaches and show what they've been working on all year," McCarthy said. "It's a culmination of all the work they've done throughout December, January, February, March, April, May and June."

The season ends on Thanksgiving for a majority of high school football teams. McCarthy's offseason training program ramps up the following Monday, and lasts through the summer until the start of training camp. This past week, though, McCarthy joked as he took a mini-vacation back to his parents' home on Martha's Vineyard.

"It's hard not to be training," McCarthy said with a chuckle, "but it's nice to have some time off and have a little bit of time to reflect. We're always going, going, going. It's nice to sit back and relax a little bit before we enter the final phase of training for the summer."

Then, it's showtime.

"My favorite time is during the season, when I'm able to sit back and watch these guys have a ton of success and see all the hard work they put in play out on the field," said McCarthy. "It's special. It's fun to watch."

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: This Bridgewater State Hall-of-Famer founded M2 Quarterback Academy