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Winter 2016
OCTOBER 3, 2015,
marked a special occasion to celebrate
the extraordinary career of Dr. Gregg A. Jones, head coach
of Kutztown University men’s rugby. Alumni, current club
members, family, and friends gathered at Golden Oaks Golf
Club in Fleetwood, Pa., to honor “Doc’s” 30th anniversary at
the helm of his storied team.
“One day I walked into a local Kutztown restaurant and the
young man waiting tables, happened to be the founder of the
rugby team,” remembers Jones. “The club’s founder, Andrew
Lewis ‘88, and his friends were trying to conduct their rugby
practices from a book.When he heard my name, he recognized
me and asked if I would be interested in coaching the team. I
responded with, ‘I’ll come to one practice but that’s all.’Well,
the joke was on me. I was a young chiropractor but had known
at the age of 14, that all I ever wanted to do in life was coach.
I have been coaching at Kutztown ever since that first practice,
30 years ago.”
To understand how rugby made its mark on Jones, one would
have to go all the way back to his hometown of Shamokin, Pa.
Growing up in the coal region, with family of Welsh descent,
Jones’ father used to take him to watch rugby matches between
the local mining companies (in much the same fashion of
community softball teams today).As a student at East Stroudsburg,
he worked toward a degree in physical education and was a
member of its Division I wrestling team. A career-ending injury
led him to follow his father’s footsteps into the family business.
He enrolled in classes at Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa,
served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps. and
completed his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1975. He also
enjoyed an 18-year career playing rugby, which culminated with
recognition as one of the Top 100 rugby players in America in
1979 and 1980.
Since becoming head coach at KU in 1986, a purely voluntary
position, the club has enjoyed much success both on the field
and in the classroom, continuing to recruit some of the most
academically prepared and athletically focused young men from
around the world. His teams have garnered 60 semesters of
winning seasons, perennial D1A Top 10 national rankings,
two trips to the Collegiate Rugby Championship finals, one
USA 7s Eagle selection, and most recently one USA Eagles
2015 World Cup team member. His motto, “The Secret to
Success: Go to Work Every Day,” is rooted in the work ethic
that is instilled as an expectation from day one of a student’s
Kutztown rugby experience, and has served more than 1,100
alumni who he has coached and mentored.
“The hardest part of coaching at KU, over the past 30 years,
has been the task of convincing people that rugby is a legitimate
athletic endeavor,” he said. “The truth is: rugby is the second
most popular sport in the world, a close second only to soccer.”
Jones’ success has brought much deserved attention to the
club’s student-athletes.
“I hope people look back on my coaching career and realize
that I was just an ordinary man, given an enormous privilege,
as the mentor of young men. I honored that commitment and
cherished every moment that I was allowed to represent KU.”
DOC
JONES
A 30 YEAR LEGACY
Dr. Gregg A. “Doc” Jones, volunteer head
coach of the men’s rugby team.