From a Chili Cookoff to Accountability, Kevin Cahill’s Culture Change Has Lehigh Football Back on Top

For nearly 45 minutes after the coaches officially ended practice, the players remained. Adderley and Perri addressed the squad first, refocusing thoughts from going home for Thanksgiving to the work that remained with five games—all Patriot League matchups—remaining on the regular season schedule. Jamiel wrapped up the meeting with an emotional plea for everyone to do their job regardless of if they were getting the ball every play or had a spot on the scout team.

The meeting was exactly what Lehigh needed. It was also a direct result of one of Cahill’s objectives since he arrived at Lehigh: creating a player-led program where the athletes hold each other accountable.

“That was the epitome of the program—being player-led and it starting with us,” Jamiel said. “That, for me, along with every other player on the team, was a turning point.”

“There was a different response after that, and it was good to see,” Cahill said.

Not even a year removed from their second straight 2-9 season, the Mountain Hawks didn’t lose again until Dec. 7 in the second round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Not only did they win five straight to finish the regular season and clinch their first Patriot League title since 2017, they went on the road to beat Richmond in the first round for their first playoff win since 2011. It was the furthest a Lehigh team has gone in the playoffs since the 1977 national championship team.

But just as important as results on the field was the progress Cahill made in the culture he’s building for the program—“the Lehigh Way,” as he calls it. And having a player-led program is only part of it.

Culture Change

Shortly after Cahill was first hired at Lehigh in December 2022, the former Yale associate head coach and offensive coordinator began talking about a culture change and “the Lehigh Way.” He wanted to build a program that developed students both on and off the field, taught them to learn how to win and build relationships within the program.

One of the first things Cahill did to build those relationships was eat meals with the team. Over two years later, it’s something he still does.

“He's always around us,” Jamiel said. “His sons, his daughter are at practice. It just means more to us.”

The senior said it’s not just Cahill either, it’s the entire coaching staff. And because of those relationships, he doesn’t want to let his coaches down.

“It's just something small like having a meal, playing a round of golf or just coming in the office to hang out,” Jamiel said.

Cahill says despite some thinking they’re ahead of schedule because they won a championship, he believes the program is progressing as planned. And that there is still work to do.

“We've implemented a lot of people on campus for recruiting, which has been helpful,” Cahill said. “We've implemented bioengineering to help us with reading data, so that's been helpful. But there are other areas that we still have to grow in and be truly developmental. The strides are good, but we’ve got to do it consistently now and make it even better.”

While Lehigh will return many of their starters for the 2025 season, the path to back-to-back Patriot League championships won’t get any easier. In addition to the typical Patriot League foes, their first round playoff opponent, Richmond, is joining the league, and they visit Bethlehem to open the season.

A championship is a start, but it’s only the beginning, according to Cahill. The reason he said he came to Lehigh was to sustain success with the program again.

“What I tell the team all the time is ‘What got us here won't get us to where we want to go,’” Cahill said. “We have to focus on what we do and do it much, much better. That's the key to sustained success, which is the hardest success. You can win a championship every now and again just based on talent but if you want to sustain success, it's much deeper than just talent. That's the journey we're going on right now.”