With the offseason in full swing for all but the four teams competing in next week’s Frozen Four, attention around the college hockey world turns to who will be the next head coach of Union College.
Rick Bennett, who was the head coach for the Dutchmen's only national championship team in 2014, resigned on Jan. 31 following an internal investigation at the school into his conduct with players. Bennett, a Providence alum from Springfield, Mass., had helped Nate Leaman build the Union program as an associate coach and then took over when the latter went to Providence to become the boss of the Friars.
With only 59 teams in NCAA Division 1 hockey, any job opening is significant. There aren’t many opportunities for assistant coaches to move up. The job vacancy in Schenectady comes at a good time for the school as it was recently announced Union would be able to offer athletic scholarships in hockey. The facility and the administration’s lack of support for hockey are concerns, but interest will be high, given that this is a program with a national title and alumni in the NHL in its pedigree.
Further benefiting Union is that the program is the only one in Division 1 with a posting for head coach. The only other job openings are at Princeton and Michigan State as the Tigers and Spartans are looking to fill voids left by assistant coaches Brad Dexter and Joe Exter (Cranston, R.I.) leaving their respective programs.
Getting back to Union, the most obvious candidate is Quinnipiac associate head coach Joe Dumais. The Auburn, Maine, native is in his sixth season at his alma mater, but he previously spent five seasons at Union. He was in Schenectady for the rise of the program from 2011 to 2016. Also on his resume are three seasons as an assistant coach at UConn from 2008 through 2011. Dumais is well-respected across college hockey and has been part of successful programs.
Next up on the list of candidates most likely to be sought after by Union is American International head coach Eric Lang. The 46-year-old has led the Yellow Jackets to four straight Atlantic Hockey regular season championships and has guided the team to three consecutive league tournament titles and trips to the NCAA Tournament. The 1997 AIC alum has been the head coach at his alma mater since 2016. He previously spent five seasons as an assistant at Army under Brian Riley and three years as the head coach of Division 3 Manhattanville.
Lang’s name has come up numerous times over the last few years during vacancies at other programs, including Vermont where he was believed to be a finalist before Todd Woodcroft was selected by the Catamounts.
Anytime there is an opening in college hockey, it seems as if alums are considered. Union only has two former players who would seem to be viable candidates. Providence assistant Joel Beal has experience in four different Division 1 conferences, but his only head coaching experience came in prep school at Albany Academy. A two-time alternate captain of the Dutchmen, Beal graduated in 2005. He’s had stops at Union as a grad assistant and Sacred Heart, Miami and Providence as an assistant. From Brantford, Ontario, Beal is a smart young coach with expertise in recruiting.
The other alum that could be a candidate is a little off the radar. Andrew Will has been the head coach at Salisbury School since 2008, guiding the Crimson Knights to six NEPSAC Elite 8 championships. The 48-year-old from Willowdale, Ontario, had spent four seasons at his alma mater as an assistant before one at rival RPI prior to jumping into the prep school circuit. While it might be an unusual career path, there’s no doubting that Will is a good X’s and O's coach who could succeed with the right assistants.
Beal isn’t the only coach on the Providence staff worth considering. Union AD Jim McLaughlin would be wise to call Providence associate head coach Ron Rolston, if the two haven’t already connected. Rolston, 55, has significant experience in the NCAA ranks, but he’d also bring a certain level of cache to the program based on being a former head coach of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. He just concluded his fourth season as Leaman’s right-hand man at PC and had previously been an assistant coach at Boston College, Harvard, Clarkson and Lake Superior. In addition to his time as a head coach in the AHL and NHL, he also guided the U.S. NTDP for seven seasons.
Another potential coach with junior, prep, and pro experience has connections to Rolston and upstate New York. Chadd Cassidy, the head coach of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, is a well-respected hockey mind with vast experience, including as the head coach of the AHL’s Rochester Americans and at Northwood School in Lake Placid. He played college hockey at SUNY-Cortland with Leaman and Tampa Bay Lightning assistant Derek LaLonde.
One college assistant coach who deserves more credit for the success of the program he’s at is UMass associated head coach Jared DeMichiel. The 36-year-old played college hockey a few hours away at Rochester Institute of Technology, famously leading the Tigers to the 2010 Frozen Four. The Avon, Conn., native played prep school hockey for his hometown Avon Old Farms Winged Beavers. Prior to the last six years at UMass, he spent two years each at St. Lawrence and Division 3 Nazareth. DeMichiel would bring knowledge of the region and plenty of recruiting connections to the Union program.
From those I’ve spoken to, it appears Union might want to clean house and start fresh. However, interim head coach John Ronan should be given a chance to interview. The South Boston native and Maine alum has been an assistant at Union since 2016. He has experience as an assistant coach in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms and captained the 2004-05 Black Bears.
A few longshots are a pair of Boston College alums: Mark Dennehy (Dorchester, Mass.) Â and Greg Brown (Hartford, Conn.). Both are currently employed in solid situations. Dennehy is the Director of Amateur Scouting for the New Jersey Devils, but has head coaching experience at Merrimack as well as in the AHL with the Binghamton Devils. A former assistant coach in ECAC Hockey at Princeton, the job Dennehy did at Merrimack was wildly underrated. A great coach who is well-respected throughout the hockey world, Dennehy would be a great addition at Union, if the school could persuade him to come that way. Brown is currently the head coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. His most significant coaching stop was at Boston College where he helped the Eagles win three national championships and countless Hockey East crowns while at The Heights from 2004 to 2018. He also spent three seasons as an assistant under David Quinn (Cranston, R.I.) with the New York Rangers. Both Dennehy and Brown are considered front runners for the BC head coaching gig when Jerry York (Watertown, Mass.) finally retires.
Lastly, two Division 3 head coaches who should be given a chance to interview, if they desire, are Trinity’s Matt Greason (North Bridgeton, Maine) and Utica College’s Gary Heenan. Both have been tremendously successful in the Division 3 ranks. Going from Division 3 to Division 1 isn’t entirely uncommon. One recent example of that trajectory working out is Norm Bazin at UMass Lowell as he came from Hamilton College.
