Hey wait a minute, what about Washington University?
Not considered a contender in a Gateway Conference that has had plenty of contenders, Washington has vaulted itself to the top of the conference pecking order with a 60-0 defeat of Maryville and, this past weekend, a somewhat shocking 45-15 defeat of #24 St. Louis University.
Basically out of nowhere, Washington is now 2-0 and it's a 2-0 in emphatic fashion.
This all came out of a bit of a coaching crisis in the Gateway Conference. More than a few teams were struggling coming out of the COVID shutdowns and Gateway Commissioner Justin Whitton (SLU's Coach) got to work trying to find coaches for teams. Whitton certainly deserves credit for thinking about the conference over and above his team, trying to get more teams on the field. He succeeded in his efforts, and convinced Bryce Krug to work with the Washington University side.
A Two-Way Street
"He told me this was a hard-working bunch of guys that were trying to move the program forward but that they were coaching themselves," Krug told GRR.
Whitton knew Krug worked at the University, so he figured it wouldn't be too hard for him to walk across campus and help out.
"It was interesting," said Krug, who is the Senior Director of Advancement at WashU's McKelvey School of Engineering. "You have to give them credit for their drive to keep the program going during COVID and organizing all the training sessions themselves during that time."
Along with Krug, others from local teams—St. Louis Bonbers, St. Louis Hornets, Lindenwood University—all came to help out.
"Everyone saw there was potential in these guys and wanted to help give them a platform for success," said Krug.
So WashU played, and Krug agreed to help out while also making time for his daughter's last season of high school softball.
"I needed to focus on her but agreed to a meeting with the team captains," Krug explained. "I was really impressed by their enthusiasm for the game and their desire to compete, so I agreed to help out as was able. I would say that while some of the results were tough, I could definitely see our opportunities. The Gateway league has a lot of talent. Like most non-varsity programs, a few of our players may have had the chance to learn rugby in high school, but most are coming over from other sports and figuring out the laws and the strategy on the field. If you look at the matrix that NCR has developed, considering WashU’s academic entrance requirements and NCAA DIII footprint, we look more like a small college program than a D2 program. That might seem like we’re at a disadvantage in the D2 league, but I like to think that gives us a little bit of an advantage because these guys are able to leverage their intelligence with their athleticism."
