Paul Keeler (born April 17, 1971) is an American

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach and former player. Keeler has coached Old Blue RFC, San Francisco Golden Gate, and

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

. In 2016, Keeler was the head coach of

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

team San Francisco Rush.

Playing career

Keeler began playing rugby for

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, before moving on to play with the Buffalo Old Boys RFC and Rockaway RFC men's clubs. Keeler moved on to play with Old Blue RFC of the Rugby Super League, reaching the playoffs four times including two RSL semifinals. Keeler was also a MetNY and NERFU select player during this period.

Coaching

Club

Keeler moved into coaching as a player/coach and was assistant coach to the Australian coach Geoff Mould of Australian schoolboys fame. From 2003 through 2005 Keeler coached Old Blue's Division One side, securing consecutive playoff appearances. Keeler's rep side coaching experiences include being the MetNY select side coach since 2004, and the unbeaten Northeast Select Developmental XV known as The Beagles since 2005. Keeler coached the Old Blue (New York) Super League side in 2006 and 2007. He guided them to the Super League semifinals in 2006, leading the club to re-sign him to a two-year contract. Keeler led the team to the RSL quarterfinals in 2007. Keeler served as the director of rugby and head coach of

San Francisco Golden Gate RFC San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in San Francisco, California. SFGG's first side competes in the Northern California Rugby Football Union's Men's Division I, Women's Division II, and Pacific Rugby Premiershi ...

from 2008 to 2012. During those five years, Keeler led SFGG to a 32–9 record in the Rugby Super League, including a 7–3 record in the playoffs and two national championships. In In 2008 he led SFGG to a playoff berth, losing a close match in the quarterfinals to eventual champions the New York Athletic Club. In 2009, with Keeler and the aid of assistant coaches and long time club stalwarts Grant Wells and Karl Thomson, the San Francisco club continued their winning ways with a 6–1 record, losing only to rival Belmont Shore. In the playoffs, the club routed the Dallas Harlequins in the quarterfinals, notched an injury-time win over the Denver Barbarians in the semifinals, and won its first championship by defeating Life 23–13 in the RSL final. In 2010, SFGG returned to the final but lost to NYAC. In 2011, SFGG reached the finals for the third consecutive year, this time defeating Life for the championship.

College

Keeler became the head coach of the

rugby team in 2012. In his first season as head coach, the Broncos posted a 6–1 record in the Northern California Conference of Division 1-AA. As league champions, they earned a berth to the D-1AA playoffs, a program first. Santa Clara accepted an invitation to Division 1-A, joining the California Conference for the 2012–13 season.

PRO Rugby

In December 2016, Keeler was announced as the head coach for San Francisco Rush in

National

Keeler applied for the vacant head coach position of the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

in 2012, but the post was given to

Mike Tolkin Mike Tolkin is a rugby union coach who served as head coach of the United States national team from 2012 until 2015. He was the head coach for Rugby United New York for the Major League Rugby 2019 Season. He is the current General Manager of P ...

."Keeler Stepping Down from SFGG Post"
, Rugby Today, July 20, 2012.

College coaching record

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeler, Paul American rugby union coaches Living people Canisius University alumni 1971 births Sportspeople from Queens, New York