Before joining the University of North Florida Deadbird Rugby, UNF student Connor Kurrack had never played the popular English sport. 

Nearly three years later, team captain Kurrack and the UNF Rugby team are now national champions. However, the championship didn’t come easily. When Kurrack joined the team in his freshman year, the club was fresh off losing a massive senior class of players who had grown up playing the sport. 

Challenges of the Rugby Club

In the fall of 2022, the rugby club was filled with players who were new to the sport. 

“We had a lot of unproven guys who just started playing like myself,” Kurrack said. “So it was kind of like a hard reset for the club where we had to develop something entirely new over these last three years with the guys we have.”

Like many growing clubs or teams, the next two years were difficult. Kurrack said the team “got beat pretty bad both years in pretty much every sense of the matter.” However, by 2025, the team began to look like an actual rugby team, according to Kurrack. 

“We’re not just out there throwing a rugby ball around at each other,” Kurrack said. “We actually have a plan, a pattern, we know how to capitalize when stuff goes wrong.”

Overall, Kurrack said his team’s biggest change was showing they “can be a full team instead of just 15 guys running around.”

Becoming a club leader

Instead of quitting, Kurrack said that when things are tough, it makes him want to work harder. Following his first year with the club— well before the turnaround — Kurrack decided to stay with UNF Deadbird Rugby long term. 

Kurrack also joked that he was “forced” into a club leadership position. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“A lot of that stuff kind of got shoved my direction, which was completely okay, because I was up for it, I wanted to give my hand at it,” Kurrack said. 

After taking over the leadership positions, Kurrack wanted to get everyone more involved in recruiting and playing for enjoyment. 

“So it was just getting everybody to kind of focus on saying ‘it’s on us,’ not just me as captain and president,” Kurrack said. 

Relegation: a blessing in disguise

During Kurrack’s first season as captain, the club played in a relegation match against the University of Central Florida. The winner would stay in Division One, while the loser would be relegated to Division Two. Despite playing its best rugby game since Kurrack joined the club, the Deadbirds lost 25-22 and were relegated to a lower division. 

Even though “nobody wants to get relegated,” Kurrack said this game heightened the club’s capabilities. 

“That kind of gave us a little spark,” Kurrack said. “…But I don’t think we would have actually had the success we would have if we didn’t have the tragedy of last year.”

For the next season, the Deadbirds played weaker competition. The UNF Rugby Club dominated its schedule, going 5-1-0 last spring. 

Kurrack said they used this season to focus on testing themselves. 

“Even though we’re already up by 60 points, still we’re not losing focus,” Kurrack said. “I think that helped us a lot, kind of getting our identity together as a team.”

A Historic Season

A recurring theme for this team, according to Kurrack, was coming back late in games. This was shown when the Deadbirds traveled short-staffed to Eckerd College and tied the game as time expired. 

“It really kind of set the tone for this season,” Kurrack said. “Like, it doesn’t matter how far out of the game we get, we are still able to bring it back.”

On April 12, the Deadbirds faced off against Ave Maria University in the D2 state championship game. Just like against Eckerd, Kurrack’s team found themselves down by 16 with around 20-30 minutes left. 

Kurrack credited Jason Martin for breaking the game open. 

“He was definitely a spark in a lot of those games,” Kurrack said. “He makes a big play, turnover, tackle, run, something that sets us up in a good position to capitalize off of it.”

UNF won 30-26 to clinch the club’s first state championship. 

Club History and Future

Founded in 2003, the Deadbirds will transition back to the Florida Collegiate Conference D1 Double A Division next year after winning states. From becoming the first program demoted to a new division to being the first to be promoted, Kurrack is happy about transitioning back to Division One. 

“Obviously, there’s not going to be any easy games at all, but we feel more equipped as a team,” Kurrack said.

While the team is losing many players to graduation, Kurrack is confident that recruiting will be easier because they can show off their championship trophy. For this club, recruiting consists of tabling around campus, and the rugby team accepts everyone.

“Even if you are a female looking to play women’s rugby here, we don’t have it but I’ll certainly talk to you about it,” Kurrack said. “If I have enough girls who are interested at UNF, I can help you start the club.”

Even with a championship, Kurrack said his club will take anyone.

“We have the least amount of bars to entry,” Kurrack said. “We will literally take anyone as long as you are a living, breathing person.”

Kurrack said UNF club rugby starts tabling at Week of Welcome events in the fall. 

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