Moves Made in NCAA Hockey Coaching Ranks

It's been a whirlwind few weeks regarding head coaches in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Adam Nightingale, a former Spartan skater himself, has had his contract extended after Michigan State won the Big Ten regular-season title, the first such title in program history. According to msuspartans.com, Nightingale's five-year rollover contract includes a non-performance related compensation of $700,000 in the first year, with a a base salary of $600K and supplemental compensation of $100K. Beginning in year two, his supplemental compensation will increase by $25K from the previous year. MSU (22-9-3 overall, 16-6-2 B1G) will entertain Ohio State on Saturday in a Big Ten tournament semifinal contest.

Steve Wiedler has been promoted to head coach at Vermont, after serving as interim coach this season. A former Southern Maine defenseman, he has received a four-year contract (financial terms were not disclosed). A former UVM assistant, he succeeded Todd Woodcroft, who was let go last summer following a university investigation regarding inappropriate conduct. The Catamounts (13-18-3, 7-14-3 HE) play at UConn tonight in a Hockey East tournament first-round elimination game.

Lindenwood has let Rick Zombo go after two seasons as an NCAA Division I independent.  A former national champion at North Dakota, and a 13-year NHL defenseman, Zombo had mentored Lindenwood's ACHA club program since 2010-11, before the Lions entered the NCAA ranks in 2022-23. He also coached the St. Louis franchises in both the NAHL and USHL before joining Lindenwood. 

Bowling Green has parted ways with alumnus Ty Eigner after five seasons. He led the Falcons to an 84-83-11 mark in that span, with their last winning campaign coming in 2020-21. BGSU finished 13-12-1 overall (11-12-1 CCHA) this year, and was eliminated by Michigan Tech in the first round of the CCHA tournament.

Lastly, David Borges is retiring from Stonehill College after 10 seasons at the helm. A UMass Lowell graduate, he compiled a 102-141-24 record overall with the Skyhawks, including the past two seasons as a Division I independent. He also led Stonehill to two Northeast-10 regular-season titles and one league tournament championship in his tenure.

NCAA Coaching Carousel Continues

The offseason NCAA men's ice hockey coaching carousel was in full swing over the past two weeks.

Foremost among all the moves made was the firing of Todd Woodcroft by Vermont, after a months-long investigation by UVM administrators concerning "inappropriate text messages" with a student at the university. Woodcroft, who registered an overall record of 20-55-9 at the helm of the Catamounts over the last four years, has been replaced by assistant coach Stephen Wiedler for the 2023-24 season. Wiedler played collegiately at Southern Maine, and was an assistant at Curry College and AIC before becoming an assistant in Vermont in 2020.

The rest of the recent coaching movements came in the assistant ranks, as also reported at USCHO.com. Alaska (Fairbanks) brought aboard former NAHL/NA3HL head coach Casey Mignone, who played collegiately at both Lebanon Valley and Westfield State. Michigan hired Mathew Deschamps (Maine) and Kevin Reiter (Alaska Anchorage) as assistant coaches, and also promoted Rob Rassey (Northeastern) to associate head coach. Colgate added Zach Badalamenti (Wisconsin-Stevens Point), while Brock Kautz (Minnesota) has joined Bemidji State.

Lastly, Arizona State associate head coach Mike Field (AIC), who has spent the last eight seasons with the Sun Devils since they joined the NCAA Division I ranks, has jumped to the major junior hockey ranks as an assistant with Everett (WHL).  Field, who has also coached at his alma mater and at Dubuque (USHL), helped ASU to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2019 as an independent.