Life-Changing Experience for US Coach at Crusaders Program in NZ

12.16.2025College Men

Killian Mulkern has energized his burgeoning coaching career with the Crusaders program.

Author: Alex Goff

The best Men's D2 college team that didn't get a spot in the playoffs is almost certainly Miami of Ohio, and there are a few reasons for that.

While Miami didn't make the playoffs because they were a close second in a conference that only got one bid to the postseason, Head Coach Killan Mulkern's squad played with intelligence, experience, and something extra.

Mulkern went to New Zealand to take part in the Crusaders Global Academy Coach Development program. The program brings coaches from all over the world to learn how to develop players, hone their craft, and pick up something new. Coaches learn everything from the technical and tactical to player recruitment (looking for Crusader type traits & attributes ), analysis, leadership and culture, community involvement, Academy structure, and more.

All of this taught by coaches from the most successful professional rugby program in the world, the Crusaders out of Canterbury, NZ.

"It was awesome to put in it one, simple word," said Mulkern. "It was absolutely worth it. I think every coach, especially from America, if they can afford to go, should absolutely go. Everything that they taught you, just from just the minor things of skills and drills to coaching theory, was really mind-blowing."

Mulkern became a coach at Miami after injury forced him to stop playing. He still wasn't sure how much he would dive into coaching until he invested in the trip to the Crusaders Coach Development program. But after the program, he says he has bought into coaching completely.

Learn More About the Crusaders Global Coach Development Program>>

"I had never really been around that much professionalism before, whether with coaching or players, so I was kind of like a kid in a candy store for two weeks down there."

One of the surprising things for Mulkern was how often he encountered confirmation.

"There was actually a lot of things there that I was validated on," Mulkern said. "We have been doing a lot of the same stuff that the professionals are doing in Christchurch, and what we're doing is a lot of the same stuff that the men's clubs and, I'm sure, the other University men's and women's clubs here in America are doing. So I got the feeling that, yeah, we're on the right path. So, then, what are they doing that is so much different or better than what we're doing? And, of course, it boils down to like speed and skill. So if you they might be doing the same drills, but they're doing it at much higher level skill and much faster speed than we are."

So setting performance standards was a big takeaway from the experience, as was sharing experiences with coaches from all over.

Learn More About the Crusaders Global Coach Development Program>>

"What I tell my players all the time is, how do we get 1% better? If you get 1% better every day or every practice, after a few weeks you're far better than you were. So whether it's tackling, passing, line running, catching, catching the ball in the air, whatever it is, you get 1% better every day."

"But just seeing that stuff in-person, it gives you a different perspective on how to manipulate that to what you have back in your home club. I couldn't just completely copy-and-paste everything over that the Crusaders do. I'm not in a professional environment. But anything that I saw that could fit or could work with my players and with the facilities and equipment that I have, absolutely, I tried to replicate that as much as I could this season."

And it showed, as Miami lost only once this fall.

"There were 22 coaches from all over the world when I was there, and only one or two other Americans. There were coaches from Canada, Thailand, Scotland, England, Australia, South America, Lithuania, South Africa and from New Zealand that were part of this class.”

So, so you had people from all over corners of the earth that all play rugby everywhere. I spent 14 days straight with all these people and all you did was talk rugby for two weeks with all of them. Just hearing the perspectives and the opinions and the philosophies of all the different coaches was really cool to just just listen and learn from all of them."

All of this took a good coach who wants to be great the ammunition to be great.

"So since I started coaching, it's only been five years. I spent three years as an assistant, and this is only my second year as a head coach, so, yes, I am young. I still have plenty of time ahead of me, but my main goal to when I first started coaching was just to stay involved in the game. But then I just fell in love with coaching. So then I'm thinking, I'm not a player anymore. So as a coach, how can I be better each and every day? What can I do to improve on myself to then help improve players currently and in the future. So that's why I invested my time and money to go to New Zealand and do the the Crusaders Global Academy because this is something that I want to do. I love doing this, I just want to continue to get better at it, not only for my personal development as a person and as a coach, but also just with players and like local players here in Cincinnati, which is where I live, and then also just at Miami, and then whoever ends up coming to play at Miami or wherever I end up coaching in the future. So I want to give that knowledge back to the players wherever I go."

To learn more about the coaching courses through Crusaders Global Academy, go here>>