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McCarthy glad to be back at Cardinal Mooney camp
By GARY HOUSTEAU
Youngstown
One of the regular attendees and former alums that you’re likely to see in any given year at Cardinal Mooney’s Camp of Champions is former Notre Dame and NFL safety Kyle McCarthy. Although his physical home is currently in Southern California, McCarthy really loves to come back to the home where his heart is and inspire the next generation of Cardinals.
“I think that some of the things that I was taught growing up and the lessons that I learned, I could only hope to relay that information to these kids. Hopefully they could take something from this camp and learn from some of these incredible people at Cardinal Mooney and this town,” McCarthy said. “And if just a couple of kids could get a few things from this camp, then I think it’s a good thing.”
After all Cardinal Mooney is where it all began for McCarthy.
“This is where it all started. This is where my friends and I grew up and I certainly owe a lot to Cardinal Mooney,” McCarthy said. “I don’t think that I would have had the athletic career that I had, had it not been for coach (P.J.) Fecko and Coach (Ron) Stoops and everyone at Cardinal Mooney that really helped me become the person I am today.”
Under Fecko’s leadership, McCarthy led the Cardinals to a state championship back in 2004. It’s one of the eight state football championship plaques hanging on the outside wall of the school’s gymnasium overlooking Mooney’s practice facility.
“It was a long time ago back in 2004 but it’s always fun to come home and get with my buddies and former teammates and tell old war stories about the game and that season,” McCarthy said. “It was certainly a special time and at the time it was, I think it’s been 17 years since Cardinal Mooney’s last state championship, so it was certainly a fun and exciting time for my friends and I. It’s something that we’ll always feel was a special time in our lives.”
Back in California, McCarthy is working with a sports agency called Athletes First.
“It’s been great,” he said. “It’s a little bit of the business side of football and we represent NFL players and coaches and broadcasters. I’m very involved in the coaching practice in our company and I also oversee the combine pre-draft training, that whole process to prepare for the NFL draft for our rookies that we bring in. It’s been great. I really enjoy it.”
After a brief stint of his own in the coaching field, McCarthy couldn’t pass on this new endeavor.
“I absolutely enjoyed the heck out of coaching. It was an amazing experience and I had great time with it,” he said. “This kind of just happened organically through a few conversations with my former agent and they offered me a fantastic opportunity that, at the time, I felt was the right move for me and it’s worked out well so far.”
It’s been a learning experience and an exciting challenge to say the least.
“Anytime you go into the unknown it’s always a new challenge and this was no different,” McCarthy said. “I’ve learned a lot and worked hard to learn the trade and it’s been great. We represent Von Miller, the MVP of the Super Bowl last year, and have done a lot of new renegotiations and it’s been a fun process.”
And his health is great. McCarthy had a cancer diagnosis about two years ago but that’s all in his past now.
“I’m doing fine, everything is great. I’m feeling like my old self again. I’m absolutely 100 percent healthy —good to go— and I’m just happy to be home and around these great people at Cardinal Mooney,” McCarthy said. “I don’t want to make it a bigger deal than what it was. It was just something that happened and I had to take care of the situation.
“The health situation. That’s a thing of the past and, in my mind, I’ve moved forward and I’m just thankful for the incredible blessings that I’ve had in my life and the incredible people that surrounded me,” McCarthy said. “I’m just happy with where I am right now.”