Rugby helped Jason Adams blossom as a person, and years later his reward is a national championship in the sport, as coach of Franciscan University of Steubenville.

In rugby 15s (15 members per team), the Barons won the National Collegiate Rugby Division III title in December, 2025. Adding some spice to the story, Franciscan beat Adams’ alma mater, Slippery Rock, in the final.

Adams, Oxford Boulevard, is a middle school teacher for Commonwealth Charter Academy. Growing up in Carnegie and attending Carlynton High School, he was looking to find himself. Having a hearing disability was part of that.

“I had no confidence in myself in high school. I had braces, glasses, hearing aids,” Adams, 49, said.

At Slippery Rock in the 1990s, Adams discovered rugby. He took to the sport, the culture. He picked up a nickname, Pinball. He fit in.

Adams moved to Las Vegas, then to Santa Rosa, California, then back to Vegas. There wasn’t pro rugby at the time, but Adams played for a high-level amateur team, the Las Vegas Blackjacks.

“What I learned there, I carried with me into coaching,” said Adams.

That’s not what brought him back here in 2018. The Adams family – including wife Andrea (who also teaches at Commonwealth) and sons Jack, Nolan and Wes – wanted Wes, their youngest who is 9 and also has a hearing disability, to have the level of medical care Jason had. He followed in his father’s footsteps at DePaul Institute, where Jason learned to speak.

Adams heard about an opening for rugby coach at Franciscan, got it and began building a legacy. Under him, the Barons advanced to the national Sweet 16 three times in 15s, once in spring rugby 7s, before claiming the national title last fall.

“We were probably the smallest team in the playoffs,” Adams said. “I told them we were going to be the fastest team, and defense was going to be our bread and butter. Everything just fell into place.”

The path included upsetting top-ranked VMI in the regional round. In the national finals, the Barons topped Slippery Rock 29-17 in Houston.

Franciscan and Slippery Rock are in the Allegheny Rugby Union, and SRU had beaten the Barons in the conference title game four straight years.

“Now I can say I’ve got Slippery Rock’s number,” said Adams, although he admitted to some pangs because he is still close with several former SRU teammates.

Adams was named Division III coach of the year, and sophomore scrum half Joe Bob Moleski player of the year.

Moleski said Adams’ coaching style is to teach and game plan but delegate to the players.

“He really wants the players to run the team as much as possible. That’s kind of his coaching philosophy, as opposed to him having these hard and fast rules laid out,” Moleski said. “He gets a couple guys on the team to step up to make sure that we’re all on the same page. There’s where he’s found success, and that’s what got us where we are.

“He’s much more of a creative guy, trying to think strategically in ways the other teams haven’t seen. There’s a high degree of trust between the coach and the players, and that’s what allows for that creativity, and that’s what allows for a real strong unity.”

Adams recruits from all over the country, including a pipeline to some Catholic schools and boarding schools.

Adams’ hearing disability hasn’t been an obstacle — he laughed when he explained that he sometimes uses his lip-reading ability to help keep tabs on what players are saying when they don’t realize he can monitor them. He also has relied a lot on assistant coach Brandon Benvenuti.

Before last season, Benvenuti moved several states away and now helps remotely. That has coincided with Adams’ hearing improving since he got a cochlear implant in one ear last year, with plans for the other, after his hearing aids began losing their effectiveness.

Adams said relying on Andrea to manage their boys and other aspects of family life has been crucial. “She’s been super supportive. It hasn’t been easy on her,” he said.

To ease the strain, Adams announced that he was stepping down from his position at Franciscan to spend more time with his family, and also to start up a Mt. Lebanon rugby team for boys in grades 6-12.

”We are in the beginning stages of it but hoping to have a team ready to play by next spring. If parents are interested they can email me at jacerugger@gmail.com.”