Over the weekend, the Colorado State community lost a pair of former club sport’s coaches in Philip “Flip” Naumburg and Rod Hartley.

Naumburg’s legacy at the university has been cemented as arguably the greatest lacrosse coach in program history at CSU. With it comes a legacy that includes a 208-52 overall record, the most wins in program history. Naumburg also accrued multiple conference and national championships, as well as national coach of the year in 1999. He was inducted into the Colorado Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the fall of 2006. 

Naumburg’s accomplishments go far beyond what he achieved in hardware and are seen in the many student athletes he coached during his time at CSU. Many of them shared their sentiments through social media following his passing.

Having once already stepped down as coach of CSU Rugby, Hartley stepped up for the rugby team at a time where he was at his weakest. During their 2018 spring season, CSU was left leaderless in the middle of the season. Hartley, who had been diagnosed with ALS, stepped in and coached the Rams for the remainder of the season despite his waning health. 

A season that saw CSU play their way into the national tournament, Hartley battled his way through the disease in order to spread his passion for rugby, a task that several former players and those associated with the program went to social media to praise following the learning of his passing. 

Collegian sports reporter Evan Grant can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @EGrantSports.