The entire coaching staff of BYU’s nationally prominent men’s rugby program abruptly resigned earlier this week, citing lack of support from the school’s Student Life department.
Because rugby is a club sport at BYU, it is governed by the dean of students and his staff, and not the athletic department. Rugby players do not receive athetic scholarships and the program is not funded by the school.
Longtime head coach David Smyth, who guided the program to five national championships in his 27 years at the helm, all five since 2009, explained his decision to part company with the program on the BYU Rugby Facebook account.