For Nashville SC, June has felt less like the grind of a long MLS season and more like a series of isolated sprints.
Breaks have been punctuated by brief returns to action, as the club have played just two matches over the last 24 days. While the schedule has made consistency hard to come by, head coach BJ Callaghan says the break has given the team a rare moment to self-reflect and improve.
"It's given us an opportunity to really focus on ourselves and continue to learn," he told media on Monday at the club's Antioch training center. "We're able to take some of those learning lessons and go against Chicago, and then again, another little bit of an extended time to just kind of focus on ourselves and now preparation for a bit of a busy period."
On the calendar next is a dense stretch of fixtures. Nashville will play eight matches in the next 30 days, starting tomorrow with a road test against a disciplined New England Revolution side. It’s a game that promises to be emblematic of what Callaghan calls "a traditional Eastern Conference battle." Physical. Tactically tight. Margins razor-thin.
"They’re a very difficult team to play against both with and without the ball," Callaghan said of New England. "They have some attacking players that can really hurt you and they are really stingy on the defensive side... I think the guys are up for the challenge."
But if the first 20 matches of their 2025 campaign are are an accurate indicator, Nashville are finally be turning the page toward a more stable, defined version of itself—one shaped by Callaghan's vision of structure, discipline, and controlled creativity.
Creativity defined by structure
Since stepping into his first full-time head coaching role last summer, Callaghan has been methodical. He didn’t arrive with sweeping declarations or promise tactical revolutions, the way many new coaches are prone to do. Instead, his message to both fans and players was simple: everyone attacks, everyone defends. Structure first, flair second.
"No structure and a lot of creativity can become chaos," he said. "The team itself is really detailed in the way that we want to play, the structure of how we want to play. And then from there I think you see a lot of individuals having freedom and creativity to to put their put their stamp on our games."
That philosophy has been steadily internalized by the squad in the year since he took the job. Whether it’s the robust two-way work from the midfielders, the relentless pressing from the front, or the deliberate focus on building up from back to front, Nashville’s game model is increasingly recognizable. It's the Nashville 2.0 way.
"From structure, we believe that allows creativity and individuals to express themselves."
A rising tide lifts all boats
The attacking performance of Designated Players Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar is prime evidence of Nashville's newfound success. Both have been among the most visible benefactors of Callaghan's structured approach, consistently showing up on the scoresheet in recent weeks. Surridge has already matched his 2024 total of 12 goals, while Mukhtar has 15 goal contributions, just one behind Lionel Messi.
Callaghan is quick to reframe the narrative.
"Sam and Hany are on the other end as beneficiaries of it. But collectively, you know, we look at that as a byproduct of the collective work that everybody's doing," he said. "Cllectively, you can see a lot of guys making an impact, especially, you know, on goal contributions, Andy [Nájar] being one of them"
That commitment to collective responsibility is foundational to the club’s ethos. From the moment Callaghan arrived, he emphasized the team over the individual. That mindset, he says, has elevated players across the board – especially Mukhtar, whose return to form has been due as much to his work out of possession as his individual brilliance on the ball.
"He's someone who is a student of the game, is constantly looking to improve himself, and has taken and become much more of a well-rounded player," said Callaghan. " You can see that without the ball, he's pressing, he and Sam are leading the line. With the ball, whether it's making goal contributions or just getting our attack from the back third into the final third. Tremendous credit for him in the way that he's continued to develop himself."
For all the concern about Hany Mukhtar's form this season, he's up to seven goal contributions in 10 matches this season.
— Ben Wright (@benwright) April 27, 2025
That's his best tally through the opening 10 games ever with Nashville SC.
📸 @cmoorestories pic.twitter.com/Q0IcaAYmGL
And in Surridge, Nashville may have finally unlocked the version of the English striker they envisioned when he arrived as a Designated Player from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2023. One goal off the Golden Boot lead, this is the Sam Surridge they dreamed of.
"I didn't come here with any expectation of Sam," Callaghan admitted. "My job is to connect with these guys and talk to them and build relationships with them. It's our job to sort of, you know, learn about him as a person, analyze him as the profile that he brings and put him out in the field and try to set him up for success. And if we're able to put our players in good positions, I know that their quality will take over."
For Surridge, the success in 2025 is a welcomed change from the struggles of 2024. Last year, he scored 12 goals in 28 matches. Already this year, he has 12 goals from just 18 games.
"Last year was a difficult season for everyone. I still felt like we tried the best we could when we were going forward. It wasn't easy at times when we didn't have a lot of the ball and we weren't getting a lot of chances," he admitted. "This season I obviously wanted to keep building on it. I know I've got the same tally, but I try and not look at it too much... if I get a chance, I try and score and not look too much into it."
"The team is the star"
That humility is central to Nashville’s new culture. Callaghan doesn't hesitate when asked what his core values are.
"Selflessness. That’s a value we have here," he said. "The team is the star."
Ben Wright
Individual accolades will always follow team success, he says. And while goal-scorers may receive the most recognition externally, the team takes tremendous pride in the efforts that go into giving them those chances, the platform the team works selflessly to create.
"You need a good supporting cast," Callaghan says. "There's a really good group of guys here that play behind them on the field. [Mukhtar and Surridge] have been the beneficiaries of that ability."
Just scratching the surface
Despite the tangible signs of progress, Callaghan isn't content with where they are. Far from it.
"If I'm being completely honest, I think we're just scratching the surface," he says. "We're really happy with the progress that we're making, but at the same time, we know that there's still elements that we need to continue to improve if we want to really achieve great things here in Nashville."
Since arriving in Nashville, Callaghan has avoided tying success to particular outcomes or benchmarks, consistently preaching a process-oriented approach instead of being result-oriented. The mission has been to simply get better every day, every game.
"We've been talking about just turning the page every day." he says. "And we stick with how we can just keep getting better doing what we do and elevating the way that we play."
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity
