Former Eagles 7s coach Alex Magleby has rejoined the program as National Development Director, U.S.A. Rugby announced today. His main duty in his new role will be to work on developing and identifying talent for the team. This will allow head coach Matt Hawkins to focus more on coaching rather than on identification. Magleby was known during his tenure as head coach as someone who had an eye for developing talent but as he and Hawkins have found out, coaching a team while doing all of the other things that go along with running a team is nearly impossible to do alone.
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Magleby's resume speaks for itself having won two CRC titles with Dartmouth and leading the Eagles to their most successful season in recent memory last year. He was one of the main instigators of the Olympic Development Academies and it is expected that he will continue to work closely with them.
Part of Magleby's duties may also be fundraising. As he told anyone who would listen while he is in charge that taking a development team on an overseas tour or bringing in a player for a look costs money that often has to come off budget. If the team wants to go on more tours and raise more money it's going to have to come from somewhere.
Also in U.S.A. Rugby's announcement was Billy Millard being selected for a similar role with the men's 15s team. He is currently the Eagles attack coach and the head coach of the Junior All-Americans. His role will be to "work with national coaches and regional academies to identify players for national team camps and liaise with High Performances staff/stakeholders."