On the next Eagle coach

Who should be the next Eagle coach? Better to consider what he should immediately aim to achieve.

It's obvious to identify an improved win-loss record, invigorated pathways, or commercial gains. But these objectives are not entirely within the coach's control. For example, winning can reflect scheduling.

More important, they are consequences of team systems and dynamics. In this realm, the coach is the primary driver of success and failure, and there is significant room for improvement.

Here's what can and ought to be accomplished by this time next year.

First, establish player management that mutually benefits the athlete and the team. Squad members should have a clear notion of why they were picked (i.e., how they can help the Eagles succeed), where they stand and how they can improve, and what they can expect from team management and from the union. A clear sense of role and purpose is worth points on the board.

Second, identify comparative advantages and implement systems to strengthen and exploit them. The concept of 'American ingenuity' means refusing to accept that something cannot be done for lack of resources, and US rugby players and teams have ever devised ways to play the game in an incredibly competitive, even hostile, sporting environment. There is no valid reason the national team shouldn't demonstrate the same standard as the rest of us.

In answering the question 'what we can we do better than our rivals?', the next coach will fulfill a third objective: rebuilding the team's identity so as to reconnect with club and college players. Of course the squad should share a common purpose. It should also represent America. It should make us proud, whether winning or not, because of how it is playing the game and otherwise going about its business.

The great advantage of an American coach is that thinking about these matters is organic, learned from the ground up. The presumed frontrunners -- Dave Hodges, Paul Keeler, and Mike Tolkin -- all have records that include Super League success, the latter two with multiple titles to their names.

In resolving what is to be done, the question of who should do it becomes clearer. That is well, because one of the most important things the committee -- chair Kevin Roberts, chief executive Nigel Melville, vice chair Bob Latham, and past Eagle fullback Francois Viljoen -- can do is act quickly. Already there are less than 100 days until 2012's first training assembly should be underway.

Related:
O'Sullivan steps aside
Ed Hagerty: Hire American!
The USA national team, 2007-11
Eagle vets sign on as O'Sullivan assistants

Comments

[Obvious]

I assume Coach Tom Billups isn't interested because all logic points to him. A successful American who has been there and done that as a player and coach home and abroad.

Whatever the case may be Melville should call him.

[oregonbobby]

Mike Tolkin has my humble support.

[Musical Chairs]

The Eagles will continue with roughly the same record until serious changes are made to USAR. Any coach mentioned here will have the same record as the next, if nothing changes in Boulder and with the Board.

[sevens]

Without significant improvement in the national player pool, any new national team head coach will struggle to improve the Eagle's on-field performance. The new college conferences can be the regional centers for talent identification and player and coach development. Now that the conference control their own money, they can put into place regional elite development camps for player and coaches and rep sides that will improve the quality of the player pool. A federation of college conference led by the conferences can work with USAR to establish an elite player pipeline.

[WDBC]

Musical Chairs is dead right. As long as USAR is led by NM, KR and BL, the next coach will be set up to fail. Billups is too wise to touch this for the above reason.

[Al has the better job]

The 7's job has become the much better position. If only for the USOC involvement. It hasn't been easy for the Board and CEO to manage this decline but they have done it well. Thorburn, Johnson, O'Sullivan and now some eager American will take the job for less than half the pay and a quarter of the budget. This eager yank won't have the abilities to decide a training camp but less the team's victories. But for $75k and a national team business card they will be fighting for the job. It is a setup to fail proposition.

[sevens]

USA Rugby's Board will not be changing any time soon as the current members are looking forward to Rio and the rugby community is unwilling to get organized to replace the Board. Serevi today officially announced the hiring of Matthew Hawkins as Director of California Operations. As a member of the Serevi management team, the South African-born Hawkins will be responsible for building out programming in California, with particular focus on youth rugby development. Of the many rugby camps in the country only Serevi has developed a camp focused on the elite rugby player. The player pool will improve if each college conference works with Serivi or develops similar elite programs for HS and college atheltes in their regions. USA Sevens LLC combine program is another effort that could help recruiting and devlopment if deployed across all the college conferences. Serevi and USA Sevens are moving the game forward without waiting for USA Rugby.

[this is growing old]

Everything that happens, does so outside of USAR. Good luck to Mr Serevi.

[Robert E. Lee]

As it should. Time for our sport to stand on its own in the marketplace. That means entrepreneurs, both philanthropic and capitalistic, must step forward to lead the game. All this continues to marginalize the relevance of USA Rugby. That, my friend, is a good thing. Rugby needs a governing body, but one governing body probably won’t serve all of rugby much longer.

[Grant Cole]

I cannot imagine that anyone would really WANT the job of coaching USA MNT 15s in the RWC 2015 cycle. It will be a fight to maintain 15s as the marquee brand in the face of preparations for Rio 2016. I think that we NEED an American coach to manage the American game, but not from a nationalism POV. Kurt has it right in that an American coach will have the culture ingrained and understand where to find the right players. Additionally, this year's time crunch will be a bear for a foreigner who doesn't know the landscape and the players already. Whoever it is, they deserve all of our support and they're going to need it.

[DMac]

I agree with Kurt's take on this issue. How much longer will we, the membership, sit on our hands as our Union leadership make poor decision after poor decision? I'm fed up with them.

[rugbygent]

i have an idea. i see on Nigel's resume that he once coached wasps and Gloucester. well that makes him plenty qualified in my books. Be the CEO and coach of USA Rugby and save a bunch of dough

[Randy]

The leadership of US Rugby will need to change before XV's improve. We have a strong base devloping with youth/highschool and that is because USA Rugby leadership is not involved. This of course is only talking about improving on the field. The business side of things needs to improve too. Things can no longer be done the way they have in the past, keep what works but bring in new marketing tools, new business practices to help the grow the sport. Even in this economy there is money out there to be had.

[sevens]

The list of tournaments shows that the clubs are much better at running events and getting sponsors than USAR. The clubs and the new college conferences are best qualified to bring in regional sponsors for tournaments and to run elite development camps. USAR should be invited to attend but should not be expected to lead.