Willocks Set to Take Up a Combined Role with DC Old Glory and US Naval Academy
Hanover, NH—Following the conclusion of the 2021 Ivy League Rugby season, head coach James Willocks is set to step away from the storied Dartmouth Men’s Rugby program to pursue an opportunity in the nascent US pro competition, MLR.
“We are thankful for James’ efforts over the last few seasons with our DRFC student-athletes and wish him all the best in his next adventure,” said DRFC Board Chair Emeritus and US Eagle, Nate Brakeley ‘12. “The search is underway for our next head coach, and we look forward to going through this process to find a quality educator, competitor, and top mentor for our students. The program has a long line of students who have gone on to play internationally and professionally, and it is great the program continues to help develop many coaches to do the same.”
Willocks served the Big Green for almost a decade, in his first stint from 2012 to 2016 as a Dartmouth Rugby assistant coach—helping the club to four Ivy League XV and four Ivy 7s Championships, a Div. I-AA XVs national semi-finalist, and USA Rugby 7s bowl championship. He also performed as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Dartmouth football program at the time.
A year away as head coach of Penn State in 2017, Willocks returned to the Big Green coaching ranks to lead the program over the last four and half years. During that time, Dartmouth were finalists in the 2018 D1AA national championship, winners of the 2019 D1AA national spring championship, and consistently ranked the #1 team in D1AA.
Willocks helped the club continue the Ivy Championship runs with wins with the DRFC classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020, but this competition was then put on hold during the pandemic in 2020-21. Returning to the field this fall season with a young team, the Big Green earned a first win in 22 years over the Army varsity, only to fall just short of a 25th Ivy League Championship with its first Ivy League XVs loss in 14 years, and only its 5th in 26 years to an Ivy opponent.
“Leaving Dartmouth is probably the most difficult decision of my life,” said Willocks. “It is one of the best collegiate rugby programs in the world for top students, where one can combine rigorous academics with on-field competitive excellence and one of the best team spirits there is. The program’s rich tradition, highly engaged alumni body, coaching mentorship, and world-class facilities have made my experience exceptional over the last decade. Whitaker, Charlie, Bo, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of the DRFC family and would like to thank the entire Dartmouth community; we are forever thankful for the time we have been able to spend in the magical Upper Valley. We will miss our many friends as we set out on this new personal challenge of coaching in the professional ranks.”
Willocks joins a long list of Dartmouth Rugby staff members who have had tremendous growth experiences while with the Big Green to then go on to high positions in national teams, professional competitions, or other top tier university programs, including: Alex Magleby (former US National Sevens Head Coach & USA Rugby General Manager); Matt Long (former US National Women’s Sevens Assistant Coach & Head of Physical Performance); Gavin Hickie (Head Coach, US Naval Academy); Todd Thornley (Head Coach, Central Washington University), Tom Kindley (Performance Director, New England Free Jacks); Cam McClea (Performance Analyst, Otago Rugby); Ben Schuler (Head Athletic Trainer/Associate Director Sports Medicine, Dartmouth Athletics), to name a few.
“We thank James for his efforts over the last decade. He has conducted himself according to the high standards of Dartmouth and his profession while here, and has performed admirably in mentoring our students in their growth as rugby players and into fine professionals and people,” Senior Associate Athletics Director, Joann Brislin, sport administrator for the DRFC, said. “We will miss James but wish him and Whitaker great happiness in their future life in the DC area. We are looking forward to the head coach search process which will give us an opportunity to continue to evolve the program and create great experiences for our students in the future.”