Brian McDermott (rugby league)

Brian G. McDermott (born 16 March 1970) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Toronto Wolfpack in the Super League. He is a former professional rugby league player.
He was previously the head coach of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League and of the USA national team. Nicknamed 'Big Mac', McDermott was a Great Britain international forward who played his entire career at club level for Bradford Bulls, winning Super League Grand Finals and Challenge Cups with them.
He began his coaching career in 2003 as an assistant at Huddersfield Giants, taking his first senior coaching role with in 2006, before joining Leeds as head coach in 2010. McDermott coached Leeds to several major trophies including the 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 Super League titles, the 2012 World Club Challenge, and the 2014 and 2015 Challenge Cups.
Background.
McDermott was born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He played amateur rugby league as a junior for Eastmoor RLFC and was a Royal Marine for five years before becoming a professional player.
Playing career.
1990s.
McDermott joined Bradford Northern (later Bradford Bulls) in 1994, where he stayed for 10 years. He played for Bradford at prop forward in their 1996 Challenge Cup final loss to St. Helens. He played for Bradford Bulls from the interchange bench in the 1999 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St Helens.
McDermott won a cap for England in 2001 against Wales, and won caps for Great Britain in 1996 against Fiji, and 3 in 1997 against Australia (Super League).
2000s.
McDermott played for the Bradford Bulls at in their 2001 Super League Grand Final victory against the Wigan Warriors. As Super League VI champions, the Bradford Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the Newcastle Knights in the 2002 World Club Challenge. McDermott played as a prop forward in Bradford's victory. He also played for Bradford from the interchange bench in their 2002 Super League Grand Final loss against St Helens. After ending his playing career in 2003, McDermott moved into coaching.
Coaching career.
Harlequins RL.
McDermott had spells on the coaching staff at Super League clubs Huddersfield Giants and Leeds before accepting his first top-flight head coaching role at Harlequins in July 2006, replacing Tony Rea. McDermott won his first match as a head coach against Castleford Tigers. He went on to claim 5 wins and 4 losses in the remainder of 2006.
McDermott remained at Harlequins for a further four seasons but the team decreased in performance.
The team which had been in the top 5 in the year before McDermott's arrival finished 7th, then 9th then 9th again. 
Harlequins RL went on three long streaks of very poor form in the last season and a half of McDermott's tenure.
The 2009 saw a second half of the season collapse with the team winning only 1 of its last 12 games and finishing 11th.
The 2010 season saw an early win against Catalan Dragons, but again only 1 win in the first 11 games.
There were quite a few thumping losses by scores such as 62-4, 58-0 and 52-12.
After a midseason streak of 4 wins in 5 games, the team again returned to losing form, losing 7 out of the last 9.
McDermott had not secured the team's better players to new contracts, such as Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Will Sharp, Danny Orr, Oliver Wilkes and Luke Williamson and the team had finished 11th and 13th in successive seasons. The club didn't look to have a bright future. It seemed a new contract would not be forthcoming at the Harlequins.
Leeds Rhinos.
McDermott left Harlequins and returned to Leeds as Assistant Manager at the end of the 2010 season. On 25 October 2010, following the resignation of incumbent coach Brian McClennan, it was announced that McDermott would take over as head coach at Headingley on a three-year contract.
McDermott coached Leeds to the 2011 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Wigan Warriors at Wembley Stadium.
However, McDermott guided Leeds to 2011 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens at Old Trafford, after finishing in 5th place in the league.
McDermott replicated the same feat in 2012, where Leeds won the World Club Challenge against Manly Sea Eagles.
He coached the Rhinos to their 2012 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.
Two months later, the two sides met again in the 2012 Super League Grand Final which Leeds won for the sixth time in nine years with the victory over the Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford and making it two out of two for McDermott in his first two years as head coach.
By coincidence, on 12 April 2013 Leeds United announced their new manager as Brian McDermott, meaning that both the rugby league and football teams in the city of Leeds had managers with the same name. Both sides also had players by the name of Ryan Hall at the same time, one a 25-year-old winger for the rugby league side, the other a 25-year-old winger for Leeds United.
In 2014 McDermott coached Leeds in the 2014 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Castleford Tigers at Wembley Stadium, their first Challenge Cup win since 1999.
They were knocked out of the playoffs against Catalans Dragons after finishing 6th in the league, their worst position since 1996.
In 2015 McDermott coached Leeds to a historic treble, winning the Challenge Cup 50–0, scoring a last second try against Huddersfield Giants to win the League Leaders' Shield, and beating Wigan Warriors in a major final for the first time by 22–20 in the 2015 Super League Grand Final victory at Old Trafford.
McDermott was a nominee for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award at the end of the season.
The Rhinos endured a difficult season in 2016 as they were flooded out of their training ground for the first half of the season and suffered a run of injuries that left them having to fight against relegation in the Qualifiers.
At the start of 2017, with only the addition of Matt Parcell to the Rhinos' squad from the previous year, they finished runners up to Castleford Tigers in the table. They then beat the Castleford Tigers in the 2017 Grand Final at Old Trafford, with long-serving players Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire leaving the club as champions.
After a run of seven losses in a row, the club sacked McDermott as head coach in July 2018.
United States.
In 2015, McDermott was named head coach of the United States national team, combining the job with his role at Leeds. His first outing as coach of the USA Hawks was in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifiers, in which he guided the United States to victories over Jamaica and Canada, and subsequently qualified for the 2017 World Cup. After qualifying for the tournament he announced he was to stay on as the US coach until at least the end of the 2017 World Cup.