EP52 Elevating Cadets for Success with Coach Matt Sherman, Men's Head Rugby Coach at United States Military Academy at West Point

WPAOG Podcast

This episode features an interview with Coach Matt Sherman, Head Rugby Coach at United States Military Academy at West Point.

After a five-year tenure as the Director of Rugby at Stanford, Coach Sherman joined the Black Knights in 2015 to lead the Army West Point men's rugby program. He became the first full-time coach in Army West Point men's rugby history. From 2009 to 2011, Sherman worked with the U.S. Men's National Team as an assistant coach. He got his coaching start in 2007, as the assistant coach for the national champion California Bears. Sherman then moved on to his first head coaching stint at San Diego State.

While an undergraduate at California from 2000 to 2003, Sherman was a three-time All-American and served as team captain. He earned four national championships with the Bears before moving on to play for the U.S. Men's National Team from 2003-05 where he made seven appearances, including the 2003 World Cup. Sherman earned a bachelor's of arts degree in American Studies from California in 2003 and a master's in history from Oxford in 2007. He is currently pursuing a master's in sport psychology from JFK University.

In this episode, Coach Sherman talks about current efforts to defend the national championship title, the steps he takes to elevate cadets to be successful, and the important legacies that are left behind by distinguished graduates from Army West Point men's rugby.

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Key Quotes

“We're extremely grateful for the resources we're able to provide the cadets and team now, and we fight for more, right? We want to give them the best resources. We want to hold on to that identity. We want to make sure that we remain grateful for everything and entitled to nothing, and we stay strong to that ethos. In fact, our team, we have a legacy week every year. We'll have a legacy day each semester where we kind of connect with the history and talk about what I've just mentioned, but a week where we may go and train up at H lot, up at the top of the hill. The team used to have to run up that a couple miles uphill every day just to get to practice. And then you'd practice on a crappy field that was used as a parking lot for the football game. You can't help but get tough if you're doing that every day.” - Coach Matt Sherman

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Episode Timestamps

(02:13) Working with West Point cadets

(03:31) Defending the national championship

(08:04) Recruiting at West Point

(11:27) Cadet life post-graduation

(12:44) Distinguished graduates from Army rugby

(15:28) Rugby programs at West Point

(18:49) Playing in the World Cup

(21:15) Army vs. Navy rugby

(23:53) Army rugby documentary

(27:11) Bringing the sport to the highest level

(30:33) Ending up at West Point

(34:48) Army rugby’s pre-varsity history

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Links

Coach Matt Sherman’s LinkedIn

Nikolai Busko’s Twitter

West Point Association of Graduates