USARFU exec, board look to have cut Tolkin loose

If Mike Tolkin wants to stay on as national team coach, he'll have to reapply for it, the same dubious choice Eddie O'Sullivan faced in 2011. 

USARFU yesterday put its top coaching job out to public notice, pointedly saying it's searching globally. 

A new hire would be the USA's fifth head man in ten years, and could be the fourth import. Such a record indicates problems extend beyond the coach's box to 10-year chief executive Nigel Melville and the several directors with half a decade under their belt.

But the men above the test team are apparently not accountable for the material the Eagles have to work with.

Although better resourced than during the nadir of 2005-08, the 15s budget has scarcely grown in 15 years, and the national squad has become more isolated from American senior and collegiate competition.

The Super League was run into the ground after 2012, while the College Premier League faltered after one season, splintering the top university teams. There is no longer representative competition at either level, the North American 4 having crowded out the Inter-Territorial Tournament before itself failing. 

The trajectory cannot be ascribed to Tolkin, O'Sullivan, or their predecessors. Alex Magleby was appointed high performance director only this past February, while Melville has carried the title of president of rugby operations since his 2006 appointment.

Last week, Melville told the board in an email 'our preparation [for the World Cup] was the best we have ever had'. 

Yesterday morning, in a splashy scoop given to London's Guardian, he touted a licensing deal for a pro competition hoping to launch in 2016. Later in the day, news of Tolkin's fate emerged in a subordinated release.

In it, Boulder signaled it would again be looking abroad. Last week World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper said the Dublin organization would be seeking to place coaches in 'tier 2' countries such as the US. With its 2014 balance sheet still nearly $350,000 underwater, USARFU is dependent on WR for routine activities.

Magleby and Dan Payne, a 2007 World Cup eightman turned coach and then athletic director at Atlanta's Life University, are to join Melville choosing the next coach by the end of next month.

Related:
Pro league, Eagle coaching decision on tap
In reprise of Clever affair, Tolkin left in lurch
National team audit due in three weeks

Comments

[rj47]

Tolkin should have been fired immediately following the Japan match and Melville should have walked out as well as a show of solidarity!

[Gerry]

Stuart Lancaster is now available :)