Notre Dame College Director of Rugby Brian McCue has noticed the school and his players that he will be stepping down at the end of the 15s season in May. 

McCue notified his players last week and also sent a letter to NDC Athletic Director Scott Swain in which he outlined frustration at the lack of funding for the team.

Specifically, McCue has been asking for funding for a full-time coaching position - interestingly, not for McCue himself, who has a successful career outside of rugby and cannot devote full time to the team. However, that funding has not been forthcoming, and McCue has resigned.

In an interview with Goff Rugby Report, McCue said the program has brought in a large number of full-tuition-paying students, exactly as was intended. With all of the sports at Notre Dame College being non-revenue-producing, McCue said he felt the rugby program was subsidizing other sports.

He pointed to the fact that the football team has seven full-time coaches, while men’s soccer has two full-time coaches and two part-timers, as does women’s soccer. The men’s and women’s rugby programs have, in total, 95 players and only three part-time coaches.

McCue was asking for a full-time coach who would handle the ever-increasing administrative duties, while McCue would oversee and work on fundraising and recruiting.

“It’s hard for me to walk away from these kids,” said McCue. “But if you’ve got a varsity program you should put in the resources to support it. These kids are paying tuition to play.”