Three weeks into Ferris hockey’s offseason, the program introduced new head coach Brett Riley at a press conference on Monday, March 31.
The former Long Island University coach was announced as the newest bench boss of Ferris hockey on March 28. The hiring comes after long-time head coach Bob Daniels retired following his 33-year career of leading the program.
Ferris’ new hockey hire looks to return the team to championship contention.
“Ferris State is a place that has everything. Like I said throughout the interview process, the student athlete can have it all here, and I’m ready to lead this program towards great progress. I’m looking forward to building, and continue to build, a championship culture here and continuing the tradition of excellence that defines this university.”
Riley mentions that he values clear communication with his coaching, believing he must be “open, up front, honest and accessible.”
The new coach also brings youth to the team, as he is 32 years younger than his predecessor. The Massachusetts native comes from a hockey family with his uncle, father and grandfather coaching Army’s hockey program.
Last year, Riley captured the NCAA’s Independent Hockey Coach of the Year award after a 20-12-2 record with Long Island University in the program’s fifth year of existence.
Ferris State athletic director Steve Brockelbank opened the introductory press conference by highlighting the reasons why they believe Riley to be the right man for the job.
“We landed on coach Riley for several reasons,” Brockelbank said. “[His] head coaching experience. We knew we’d be fortunate to find somebody who had head coaching experience and somebody who had taken their program on a trajectory that we wanted to see. When you look at coach Riley and what he’s done at Long Island University. In his first year, three wins. Next year, 10 wins. Next year, 13 wins, then 16 wins, and now 20 wins, ended up 26 in the PairWise [rankings].
Alongside his experience in coaching, Brockelbank believed that his development skills and culture-building skills were the other qualities they looked at.
Ferris hockey has a long offseason ahead of it, as the team awaits the puck drop in October.