Riley to Step Down at Army After Season

Add Army West Point to the list of NCAA Division I men's hockey schools that will be introducing a new head coach following the upcoming season.

Brian Riley (middle, above), a West Point, N.Y. native who has guided the Black Knights since 2004-05, has announced that he will step down as Army's head coach following the 2024-25 NCAA campaign. In 20 seasons at the helm, he has complied an overall 242-359-92 mark, including the 2008 Atlantic Hockey regular-season championship. He has also been named Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year four times in his career. Riley follows Cornell's Mike Schafer and Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson, who will also retire next spring from their respective positions.

A 1983 graduate of Brown, Riley skated in 97 games in all at forward for the Bears, tallying 28 goals and 35 assists for 63 points. He began his coaching career as an assistant at SUNY-Plattsburgh in 1984-85, before spending one year at UMass Lowell in 1987-88, where he helped the then-Chiefs to the NCAA tournament. He then moved on to Army in 1989-90 and remained there for seven seasons. After a two-year stint as head coach at Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota, Riley returned to Army in 1999, where he again served as an assistant to his older brother, Rob, before ultimately taking the head coaching reins himself in 2004.

Riley, 65, is expected to be succeeded by current assistant coach and former Black Knights defenseman Zach McKelvie in 2025-26. It will mark the first time since 1949-50 that a Riley will not serve as the head hockey coach at Army, as Rob Riley guided the Cadets from 1986 to 2004, after father Jack Riley oversaw the program from 1950 to 1986.