Rhode Island native Brian Doyle was hired as assistant coach for men’s cross country. PHOTO CREDIT: Kaitlyn Chan | Contributing Photographer
The University of Rhode Island Cross Country program has had an unprecedented amount of success throughout the entirety of the 2022 season.
This recent success shows not only the dedication of the student-athletes but the coaching staff as well.
The Rams have finished in the top 10 of all of their competitions, three of which were top-five placements. Most recently, the team took first place in the Rothenberg-Brown Invite, with Doyle largely in charge of race day operations.
A native of Swansea, Massachusetts, Doyle was hired to return to New England in early August 2021, just a few weeks after Trent Baltzell’s hiring was announced. Doyle came from fellow A-10 member Davidson, where he served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for six years. Doyle said that his time with the Wildcats was a good experience, but he admitted that coming back home was a huge factor in his decision.
“It was great to be back home near family,” Doyle said. “To see what URI has done but also the potential for what we can be was really intriguing and something that was really important to me. It means so much to succeed here versus anywhere else.”
The coaching duo of Baltzell and Doyle took over from a longstanding 39-year coaching regime headed by John Copeland. Baltzell, who was coached by Copeland himself when he was at URI, explained that the departure of Copeland opened up a vacancy that was almost designed for Doyle.
“It was pretty seamless,” Baltzell said. “The event groups that he took over were the exact event groups that Coach Copeland used to coach, and it’s rare to have someone that is capable of doing that job, and Brian [Doyle] just happened to be that guy.”
Doyle’s career at Davidson was one centered around improvement. The Wildcats had a low-tier program during Doyle’s first year. However, they have transformed into a powerhouse organization, mostly due to recruitment from Doyle.
“We went from ninth my first year to now the team is on the podium,” Doyle said. “It was cool to see the guys I recruited and coached finally be able to reach their potential after a few years.”
However, Doyle admits that Rhode Island is a special place for him, given the higher ceiling with the athletes he is working with. This ceiling comes with its own pressures regardless.
“Basically, starting at the top is definitely a new challenge because it’s a lot more pressure when you’re winning all the time,” Doyle said. “But to have that pressure has been really exciting.”
With all of that pressure and excitement, it is interesting to see how Baltzell and Doyle have worked together and will continue to in the future. For Baltzell, the commonality in their age is a huge factor.
“It is nice having a younger guy in the office too, someone that I can kind of relate with a little bit easier,” Baltzell said. “It’s good that we can kind of brainstorm and have a lot of similar ideas and chat things out.”
This chemistry has had an obvious positive impact on the team this season. Baltzell and Doyle will look to continue that into the Atlantic-10 Championship on Oct 29. with events starting at 10:50 a.m. in Richmond, Virginia.