The Rennes Etudiants Club coach leaves no one indifferent. Endearing, demanding, dependable. And Breton.
Kevin, how long have you been in charge of Rennes Etudiants Club?
This is my eleventh season at the club, and I’ve been head coach for six years.
Where was the club when you took over? What are you proudest of?
The two championship titles, the first two titles in the club’s history, won in recent years (in Nationale 2, the French fourth tier, ed.). Beyond that, there are other smaller sources of pride, around defending our Breton identity and the club’s responsiveness, which gives it extra charm.
Doing a lot with a little
How would you sum up the challenge of driving Breton rugby forward in Rennes?
Without overthinking it! And with minimal resources, I’d say. Being able to regularly develop young players who grow as athletes and as men: it’s a pleasure to keep that development identity. It’s getting the maximum results and potential out of minimal resources. Doing an enormous amount for years with very little is a real hallmark of the club. Of course we’d like things to improve. But there were years when the players got changed behind their cars before training, when they travelled more than three hours to play and stopped at the roadside for a picnic. That’s what defines us, doing a lot with a little.
Am I wrong to say you have players in Rennes with a bit of rugby brain?
Being switched on matters, that’s for sure! As much as possible in everyday life, because that’s the reality of life, and on the rugby side too, because we don’t really like one-dimensional players, we don’t like asking these guys to do repetitive things. We ask them to rely on one or two strengths to get their season going, but we need players who will build, over time, the richest rugby skill set possible.
A Nationale with no relegation
“Dead Poets Society”? A strange league, with no relegation…
I think it could have had a bit more appeal, with a play-off against the losing semi-finalists, for example. We don’t claim we can challenge for the top places. But we do claim we’ll do better than in the past. We’re going to work towards that to help our young players grow, because they need to be ready for the sporting project coming over the next three or four years. We’re here as a development club, and I think today we’ve chosen a path that fits that goal.
You were struggling at hooker in the middle of winter, and now it’s tighthead prop that’s the problem…
That’s for sure. I hope the news will be fairly reassuring, because we’re allowed to believe. We also know we still have young players on the right side of the scrum, and we’ll work on that. Deep in winter, we’ll see what that gives us. Historically, REC has often had tougher winters: since we want to play, it’s not always easy to put our game in place on pitches that don’t suit it. But we also have qualities that should let us do things differently. We’ll have to open up collectively. I hope our tightheads won’t be hit too hard.
From football to rugby
How did Kevin come to rugby?
Wednesdays with the family and Saturdays in front of the TV, it’s that simple. We were hooked on the Five Nations and World Cup matches, volume turned all the way up, a challenge to the whole neighbourhood, so we could follow them from the yard! Then, rather than following the games from a distance, the whole family gathered round the table through 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. Once we were truly bitten, it was hard to avoid the rugby club. It was founded in the 2000s in Bain-de-Bretagne, my home village, and naturally we started there, leaving the round ball behind for what really thrilled us.
What’s your background? Your original training?
I started out as a car mechanic, but that wasn’t how I saw my career. I began coaching, as a youth coach at my club at 15 or 16, with the youngest kids in the rugby school. Then I did my years as a volunteer at the club until 2009, when I was 21. I coached the rugby school, the under-16s, and I had the senior side for the last three years. In 2008 I met someone at the club who worked for the regional youth and sports directorate. He told me about a course that was opening for a professional sports-instructor diploma and a professional rugby diploma. I threw myself into it, it got me my first job contract, and I made it my profession.
What position did you play?
Stopgap! Every position apart from the front five. I played in the back row but, given my build, I was no high-flying back-rower!
You’re a warm ambassador for Breton rugby. Why did you stop playing?
I had two neck problems, and I didn’t have the talent that would have justified surgery so I could carry on living rugby to the full. I never got the chance to “bury my playing career”, so the flame is still very much alive in me. But I’ve been lucky enough, for many years, to live it through male and female players who are rich and generous as people, and that helps me cope with the sadness.
From Spitzer to Guardiola
Are there people who inspire you, who help you, who you can rely on?
There are people I’m eternally grateful to for always lending an ear. Jean-Noël Spitzer, when I need to talk things through, reassure myself or find answers. He supervised my first coaching courses when I was 17, so for twenty years I’ve had the chance to talk with him, and he has always been very kind to me. I’m happy about that. We’re also lucky at the club to have people who know how to really listen, who we can talk and exchange with. And above all a few guys in the league with whom I’ve built bonds, inspiring people: I really like drawing on what they do.
Then there are coaches in other sports, managers, tacticians, strategists, the Guardiolas, Luis Enrique, all those guys with a real identity they want to defend and implement no matter what. They refuse to betray themselves for the sake of convention. Football coaches inspire me quite a lot. I’m also lucky to know a few business owners in Rennes who started from nothing and built fine, successful companies through willpower and hard work: I’m thinking of our president and vice-president. How could I not mention, thank and congratulate the directors, the volunteers, everything that makes up the soul of the club? And finally, there are all those who have the opportunity and the courage to get on a boat and cross the oceans.
Last question, Kevin: when will you wear your cap the right way round?
It helps me manage my emotions a bit, avoid shouting or getting carried away sometimes. I can be very fragile or very on edge, so I try to control myself better, because I know it can affect the guys defending the jersey on the pitch. It’s my way of keeping my emotions in check.
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