Methodist University Men's Football

Kirsten McKay was hired as the head coach of the women's lacrosse team in August of 2023 and just finished up her second season in 2025. She took over the Monarch program following a four-year stint as the head coach of the Piedmont University women's lacrosse team. In back-to-back seasons, McKay's 2025 team advanced to the USA South Tournament Championship game, falling to the eventual tournament champions and concluding the season at 12-7. Six Monarchs were named to the All-Conference team, including Kennedy Martin, who earned Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. During her first season at Methodist, the team saw historic success, earning the USA South's regular-season crown following a perfect 9-0 mark against conference opponents. In doing so, McKay's squad defeated Meredith College, bringing an end to the Avenging Angels' 65-game win streak in regular-season USA South contests that dated back to 2015. Overall, the Monarchs went 15-3, posting a single-season program record of three shutout victories along the way.  The Monarchs had eight players receive All-Conference honors — including Defensive Player of the Year Kennedy Martin — and McKay was named Coach of the Year for the first time in her career.  As the top team in the conference, the Monarchs earned the No. 1 seed in the USA South Tournament and garnered home-field advantage for the First Round, Semifinals, and Championship. Four members of McKay's squad made the All-Tournament team   While with the Lions, she compiled a 33-25 record, had 12 players named to the USA South Athletic Conference All-Conference teams, and won the 2021 USA South West Division Regular Season Championship. Her teams have also qualified for the USA South Women's Lacrosse Tournament each of the past three seasons. Off the field, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) has honored her teams with the IWLCA Team Academic Award in 2021, 2022, & 2023. Additionally, in that time frame, nine of her student-athletes have been named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.   Before arriving in Demorest, she spent a year (2019) as an assistant coach at Young Harris College, a Division II institution. While there, she helped the Mountain Lions to an 11-7 record and a runner-up finish in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.   Prior to Young Harris, McKay spent three seasons at fellow D-II school Wingate University where she served as the assistant coach for two seasons, before being named interim head coach for the 2017-18 year. During her time with the Bulldogs, McKay helped coach 23 All-Conference players and had two players named to the IWLCA's Zag Sport Academic Honor Roll. As a team, Wingate was named to the Academic Honor Squad twice.   In 2017, the Bulldogs posted, at the time, a school record for victories (13) and advanced to the South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse tournament championship game for the first time in the program's history. Wingate won 31 matches during McKay's (Smith) three seasons with the program.   McKay got into coaching following a four-year career at Lenoir-Rhyne University from 2012-15. She completed her Bears' career with 110 points (85 goals and 25 assists), 90 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers. The midfielder served as a team captain during her senior season.   McKay earned a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science with a minor in sport studies from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2015, and she received a Master of Arts degree in Sport Management from Wingate in 2017. She currently serves on multiple committees for the IWLCA including the Division III All-Region Committee for the Chesapeake Region, the Coaching Staff of the Year Committee, and the Division III Senior All Star Game Committee. Her husband, Ryan, is the head coach of the men's lacrosse program at Methodist, and the two also welcomed a son, Mack, in 2025.  McKay's Record at Methodist… table { border-collapse: collapse; } th, td { padding: 3px; text-align: left; border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; } tr:hover {background-color:#fec423;} Season Record (Overall) Record (Conference) Season Notes… 2024 15-3 9-0 USA South Reg. Season Champs / Eight All-Conference selections / USA South Defensive Player of the Year 2025 12-7 7-2 Six All-Conference selections / USA South Defensive Player of the Year TOTALS 27-10 16-2     

Ryan McKay was hired in July 2023, and he is only the second head coach in Methodist history. Before MU, he was an assistant coach at Piedmont University, where he had been since the summer of 2017. In year two, McKay's 2025 team made it to the conference tournament championship game for the first time since the inaugural USA South title tilt in 2019. Once again, the Monarchs utilized a second-half push to help propel them, going 8-1 in their last nine contests before reaching the finals. Jay Legg, the 2025 USA South Rookie of the Year, led Methodist in goals (45) and points (60) and was among the conference leaders in several offensive categories.  During his first year in the Green and Gold, he led the Monarchs to a 9-8 overall record, finishing 5-3 in conference play and earning the No. 4 seed in the USA South Tournament. After a tough start to the season, McKay's squad caught fire, winning seven consecutive games while outscoring opponents 134-34 during that span. After earning home field advantage in the first round of the conference tournament, the Monarchs defeated LaGrange College to advance to the semifinals. At Piedmont, McKay worked primarily with the offense and the man-up unit, and he served as the team's Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator – a position he assumed in the summer of 2021. During his tenure there, the Lions achieved their first winning season in 2018 (9-8). In 2019, they were victorious in the USA South Athletic Conference Championship, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. For the 2022 & 2023 seasons, he helped lead Piedmont to a 15-2 regular season record versus USA South opponents.   Since August of 2019, McKay has also served as a coach for the Thunder LB3 Elite program – a summer league based out of Georgia for skilled high school players. He helped coach the 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 Orange Elite teams, assisting with player and team development.   His first coaching experience came as a volunteer assistant for his alma mater, Millsaps College, while also coaching at MadLax Lacrosse, serving as the head coach and director of the youth program in Madison, Mississippi. In January of 2016, he became a full-time assistant at Millsaps before accepting the job at Piedmont in June of 2017. A graduate of Millsaps, McKay was a four-year starter and three-time captain for the men's lacrosse team from 2010–14. Playing attack and midfield, he finished his career with 105 points and sits as the program's all-time assist leader.   McKay earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education with a minor in Spanish from Millsaps in 2014, and he received a Master of Arts degree from Piedmont in 2020. His wife, Kirsten, is the head coach of the women's lacrosse program at Methodist, and the two also welcomed a son, Mack, in 2025.  McKay's Record at Methodist… table { border-collapse: collapse; } th, td { padding: 3px; text-align: left; border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; } tr:hover {background-color:#fec423;} Season Record (Overall) Record (Conference) Season Notes… 2024 9-8 5-3 Three All-Conference selections 2025 12-7 6-2 Six All-Conference selections / USA South Rookie of the Year TOTALS 21-15 11-5     

Brian Radakovich joined the Methodist University coaching staff in the fall of 2021 as the Offensive Line Coach and will be serving his second season as the offensive coordinator in 2024. Prior to arriving at Methodist, Radakovich spent the previous four seasons at Waynesburg (Pa.) University, initially as the Wide Receivers coach and later serving as the Offensive Coordinator in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Radakovichs career also includes stops at Thiel (Pa.) College as the running backs coach, and Elizabeth Forward High School (Pa.) as the Offensive Line Coach. Radakovich is a native of West Mifflin, Pa., and a graduate of Slippery Rock (Pa.) University where he began his coaching career as a student assistant coach in 2012.

Maddy Winch is in her first season as assistant coach for women's lacrosse at Methodist after joining the team in the summer of 2025. Winch has most recently served as an assistant coach for Juniata College during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In her first season, she helped guide the Eagles to their first post-season championship, 2024 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Lacrosse, and a program record 15 wins. She also coached one All-American, four All-Region, and nine All-Conference selections.  Prior to Juniata, she was an assistant coach for the Triton High School women's lacrosse program in Runnemede, N.J. She assisted the program both on the practice field and in the weight room, designing programming for practice sessions and weight training. She also demonstrated lifting techniques and created individualized training programming.  Outside of coaching, Winch has also served as an admissions recruiter at her Alma Mater, Rowan University, while she was an event manager for both men's soccer and field hockey as a student at Rowan.  Winch is a 2023 graduate of Rowan with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and was a four-year member of the women's lacrosse team for the Profs as an attacker.