Army West Point Athletics
Men's Rugby
- Title:
- Men's Rugby Head Coach
- Phone:
- 0174
Matt Sherman enters his 11th year at the helm of the Army West Point Men's Rugby program.
His hiring was announced by former Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Boo Corrigan on Aug. 11, 2015.
Sherman joined the Black Knights staff after a five-year tenure as the Director of Rugby at Stanford. With his hiring, he became the first full-time coach in Army West Point men's rugby history. The men's rugby program joined the Army Athletic Association in August 2014.
In the 2024-25 season, Sherman guided the Black Knights to a 11-4 overall record, falling in the quarterfinals of the CRAA Rugby Championships. Under his leadership, Army had a commanding win over rival Air Force outscoring them 43-20. The Black Knights also dominated in Rugby East play with a 4-1 record, triumphing over opponents Mary Washington, Southern Virginia, Penn State, and St. Bonaventure. Throughout these victories, they outscored their rivals by a notable margin, tallying 129 points while conceding only 76.
Hooker Andrew Bardak, center Benji Kemp, tighthead prop Gabe Savage, lock George Engels and fullback Nate Gould each garnered CRAA D1A All-American honors, with Gould also being a finalist for the Rudy Scholz Player of the Year award, which recognizes the nation's top male college rugby player.
In the 2022-23 season, Sherman guided the Black Knights to a 13-8 overall record, securing a third-place finish in the CRAA Rugby 7s Championship. Under his leadership, Army dominated in Rugby East play with a 6-1 record, triumphing over opponents such as Kutztown, Queens, Notre Dame College, St. Bonaventure, Penn State, and Mount St. Mary’s. Throughout these victories, they outscored their conference rivals by a notable margin, tallying 196 points while conceding only 65.
In the 2021-22 season, Sherman guided the Black Knights to an impressive 17-3 record. His leadership culminated in their first-ever USA Rugby D1A National Championship victory. Dominating their conference with a flawless 5-0 record, they triumphed over rivals Navy and Air Force. Notably, Sherman also mentored Larry Williams Jr., who went on to claim the 2021-22 Rudy Scholz Award for his outstanding performance with the Army West Point Men's Rugby team.
After a shortened season in 2020, Sherman and the Black Knights compiled a 7-1 overall record in 2021 including a third place finish at the 7's Collegiate Rugby Championships. Sherman led his team to a sweep of the services academies and a 4-0 record in 15's action, outscoring opponents 201-32 along the way.
Army collected an even 6-6 overall record and 3-2 in Rugby East in the fall of 2019 before having their season cut short due to the pandemic. The team finished its fall season in style, as the Black Knights took down Rugby East rivals Penn State 31-14 for their fourth straight win. The Black Knights closed out their 15s campaign on the west coast against Cal and Central Washington.
Sherman led the Black Knights to a 13-9-1 record in the 2018-19 season and their first undefeated 6-0 record in the Rugby East. Army fell at the hands of Arkansas State in the D1A Men's Collegiate National Championship in a 24-31 battle. The Black Knights followed up the 15s season with an impressive performance at the All Academy 7's, notching wins against Norwich University, Navy and the Royal Military College of Canada.
The Black Knights went 17-13 in the 2017-2018 season, amassing an 11-5 record in 15s play and a 6-8 record in 7s play. In the Collegiate Rugby Championships, Army posted an even 3-3 record, with big wins over the University of Maryland, Central Washington and Saint Joseph's before suffering a tough 12-17 loss to Virginia Tech in the Plate finals.
In the fall 2017 season, Sherman led the Black Knights to a record of 6-2 overall in 15s play, earning a mark of 4-2 in Rugby East action. He also helped Army grab a victory against service-academy rival Air Force, 66-7. Sherman brought the team to another Rugby East Championship match against ranked opponent Penn State. His Black Knights finished the year undefeated from the Anderson Rugby Complex, and boasted a .750 win percentage.
In his first season with Army, Sherman led the Black Knights to a record of 9-5 in 15s action, earning a mark of 5-2 in Rugby East play. The Black Knights opened the season with a pair of shutouts and knocked off nationally-ranked opponents Wheeling Jesuit, Penn State, and Utah.
In the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup, Sherman led Army to the quarterfinals, falling to the eventual champion, Cal.
He coached a USA Rugby All-American in Jake Lachina, who earned honorable mention recognition, D1A Player of the Week in Andrew Fargo and Rugby East Player of the Month in captain Donny Goff. In addition, his Black Knights were ranked as high as fourth in the Canterbury D1A National Poll, spending a considerable amount of time in the top five.
In the Collegiate Rugby 7s Championship tournament, Sherman directed the Black Knights to a 4-2 record and the Bowl Series title. In the tournament, Army defeated Navy, Tennessee, Clemson and Maryland.
From 2011-15, Sherman led all rugby efforts at Stanford, including coaching, staffing, recruiting, administration and scheduling for both the men's and women's programs. Under his tutelage, the men's team reached the national quarterfinals twice and the women's program advanced to the national final four three times. In addition, he helped the rugby programs fundraise more than $1 million and increased admitted recruits from zero to seven.
While leading the Cardinal program, Sherman also served as the Men's College All-Americans Head Coach from 2012-2014. In both of his years with the team, he earned a winning record and more than 50 percent of his athletes moved on to play for the senior men's national team.
From 2009-11, Sherman worked with the U.S. Men's National Team as an assistant coach, working with the back line. His squad produced a victory over Russia in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Sherman got his coaching start in 2007 when he served as the assistant coach for the national champion Bears of California. He then moved on to his first head coaching stint at San Diego State, producing a national final four team and a national quarterfinal squad in his two-year stint.
While an undergraduate at California from 2000-03, 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 of Arts degree in American Studies from California in 2003 and a master's in history from Oxford in 2007.
