Coach Will Announces Transition to Focus on Program Growth

After seven years of serving as both "Head Coach" and managing "Director of Rugby", I have made the decision to step away from the Head Coach position at the end of this season. This decision has not come lightly and I will continue to be fully involved with the club as Director of Rugby, focusing my attention on building a stronger, more comprehensive program. This program has always been bigger than any one role, and this step is about setting it up to thrive long after any of us move on.

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Coaching more than 200 players at UW has been one of the most meaningful parts of my life over the past seven years. I began before the COVID-19 pandemic, and guiding the program through that period required adapting to athletes whose formative academic and social years were shaped by remote learning, while also navigating the sudden loss of experienced study-abroad players who had traditionally strengthened the roster.

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Despite those challenges, the pandemic created an unexpected opportunity. With more time to invest in relationships, we reconnected alumni with the club and built a strong, engaged support network that now serves as a foundation for the program’s future growth. Today, UW Rugby is positioned to excel because of the strength of its alumni involvement and student leadership. In addition, we have established strong recruiting pipelines through relationships with high school clubs and state pathways. Many players connected to WA Select and the Loggers—through work with me and our UW assistant coaches—have applied to UW, expressed interest, or are now enrolled and competing for the program.

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While this autumn quarter was challenged, mostly by a string of unlucky injuries, I feel confident in the club’s trajectory at this moment in time. What the club needs now is an injection of energized coaching, and a separation of roles on the field and off.

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We’ll be opening the Head Coach position to the rugby community through an open application process, while also giving strong consideration to excellent internal candidates. Alumni have also expressed a desire to hear player input from our rising leaders. This is a “Registered Student Organization”, guided and supported by alumni, coaches, and a strong medical and physical therapy team. Per the school’s requirements, for the betterment of the club, and for the benefit of developing our student-athletes, the players must help guide the trajectory and voice their opinions as we select our new head coach.

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This next chapter is about growth, shared ownership, and leaving the jersey in a better place than we found it. I’m excited about what we’re building together.