McGonigal spent the past seven seasons on the staff at his alma mater, Richmond, including the past four as Director of Basketball Operations. He was elevated to an on-court assistant position in 2023. In addition to operations and recruiting, he has also played pivotal roles in player development.

In his first season as an assistant coach, Richmond won its first regular season Atlantic 10 title since joining the conference in 2001 and posted its longest win streak (11 games) since 1935. The Spiders ended the year 23-10 overall and 15-3 in A-10 play, a school record for most conference wins in a season. The previous record of 14 was set in 2020, McGonigal's first season as Director of Operations when the program's 24-7 campaign was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Spiders' team won a first-round game with an upset of fifth-seeded Iowa. Richmond went 147-110 with three NIT appearances (two to the quarterfinals) with McGonigal on the sidelines under his former head coach and Princeton star, Chris Mooney.

Prior to his time at Richmond, McGonigal coached for the National Collegiate Scouting Association (2012-16). While there, he worked with student-athletes to evaluate their skill level on the court and their academic profile to guide them to college opportunities that would be the right fit. He began his career as an assistant coach at Holy Spirit HS in New Jersey (2011-12) while serving as a special education assistant where he did research on special education students and worked one-on-one with students with autism in classroom settings.

A four-year member of the basketball team at Richmond after joining the team as a walk-on, McGonigal played in 27 career games before graduating in 2009 with a degree in Political Science.

Updated May 2024