Longtime Nauset Soccer Coach McCully Elected To EMSCA Hall Of Fame

After earning 400 career victories and leading two state champion squads during a remarkable 25-year career as Nauset boys soccer coach, John McCully is receiving recognition as one of the state’s top high school coaches. 

 McCully was recently inducted into the Eastern Mass. Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame alongside his close friend, Weymouth coach Bill McEachern, as the two coaches in the 2024 induction class. 

 “It’s a great honor considering all of the coaches that are already in the Hall of Fame,” McCully said. “It means that I’m getting older, that’s for sure, but it also means I’ve been fortunate to not only have great players but great kids at Nauset.”

 Racking up a long list of achievements and accolades was hardly on McCully’s mind when his former coach Jack Donahue hired him to return to his alma mater as the junior varsity coach in 1986.

“I was an assistant coach at Keene State College after my eligibility had been used up,” said McCully, who was a three-time All American selection at Keene. “I was offered an assistant coaching job at Keene for one year while I finished my studies, and then coming to Nauset was pride. 

“I had a lot of pride to coach at Nauset High School, to coach the black and gold. That wasn’t something I was looking for per se, but I knew Jack Donahue and played for Jack and it was an honor to be his JV coach.”

Six years after he accepted the JV job, McCully replaced Donahue as the leader of Nauset’s boys program. It was a fitting appointment for the former Nauset standout, who set a single-season school record after he netted 39 goals during his senior season to lead the Warriors to the 1979 state championship.

But McCully didn’t want to maintain a status quo — he wanted to rattle the foundation of the Eastern Mass. boys soccer landscape. 

“My first goal was to get New Bedford on our schedule,” McCully said. “Playing New Bedford, a school that was three times the size of Nauset, certainly kickstarted my program for 25 years. 

“We knew it was going to be a challenge, but I think it really highlighted what our program was going to be going forward.” 

In the years since, McCully has coached four All Americans — Jacob LaBranche, Brett Conrad, Abdel Talabi and his son, James — and two Division 2 state championship teams (2016 and 2018).

While he takes great pride in all of the relationships he has made through coaching, McCully said his biggest thrill came coaching James, who finished just one goal shy of his father and coach during an emotional junior season that culminated with the ‘16 title.

“I’m down the list a little bit, but he’s right behind,” McCully said. “I wish he didn’t have a couple injuries, he only played four games his sophomore year because of torn ligaments in his knee. Otherwise, he would’ve crushed [the record], I think.”

While McCully takes pride in the individual accolades of his players, he’s also proud to see what he has built during 25 seasons at Nauset. 

“You’re certainly not going to be able to do it without great kids and great players,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have very good assistant coaches that stayed with me for a long time. Coming back to your high school after winning a state championship as a player and then winning two more wearing the black and gold — with my son being involved in one of them — that’s been the highlight of my career.”