Potential Candidates for RPI's 14th Coach

A breakdown of the options to become the next head coach of the Engineers

Photo: RPI Athletics

It’s now time to get into the options to replace Dave Smith as RPI’s head coach. RPI is in a pretty good position right now from a timeline standpoint. Since they are the first program this offseason to fire a head coach, they also have a head-start to try to woo the top candidates on the market. Currently, the only other school with an opening at head coach is Ferris State, and I would think that due to the conference and history that RPI would be a more attractive opening.

After what transpired under the previous administration, Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Bowers will have to convince top candidates that they can succeed here. It is no secret in the hockey world what has transpired with the program, and there will likely be some natural skepticism from candidates that they can succeed here. That being said, let’s dig in!

Alumni

Kirk MacDonald ‘07
RPI (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2013-14
Reading Royals (ECHL) Asst. Coach: 2014-17
Reading Royals (ECHL) Head Coach: 2017-22
Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) Head Coach: 2022-24
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) Head Coach: 2024-Present

When writing this article, I went back to look at Without a Peer’s initial article in 2017 about candidates, and I came across their section on Kirk MacDonald there. The last paragraph was particularly interesting.

MacDonald has a solid history across his career of holding leadership roles, holding captaincies in junior, college, and minor league hockey during the course of his career. Anyone who's been through what he's been through with cancer has a pretty strong grasp on perseverance and handling adversity. It certainly looks like he has a bright future in coaching. But is that future now? It's possible, but in all likelihood, the top spot at RPI might be a little too much, too soon, especially given the other candidates that are out there right now. Still, it's certainly worth watching MacDonald's coaching career to see where it might go.

The paragraph proved prophetic as MacDonald ended up elevating to the head coaching position in Reading. In his 4 seasons as head coach, Reading was above .500 in every season and made the playoffs in all but 1. He then left to become the head coach for Dubuque. In Dubuque, he was also quite successful in his 2 years there with records of 32-24-6 and 41-13-8. Last year, he led the team all way to the finals before they lost against Fargo.

MacDonald parlayed that into the head coaching position for the WBS Penguins, the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has had an extremely successful first season there with a 31-16-8 record that has them in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division.

His only real weakness is a lack of experience in the college game, so his recruiting prowess is unknown. His star is rising quite fast though. Even a year or two ago, I don’t think he would have been such a hot commodity because he was still really inexperienced outside the ECHL, but now, he is easily one of the favorites for the job. The question now with MacDonald is “would he come here?” AHL head coaching jobs aren’t too far from NHL jobs, and it arguably could be a lateral move at best. Last year, Clarkson managed to hire JF Houle from an AHL head coaching job, but Northern Michigan also lost Grant Potulny to one. That’s where Dr. Bowers and Dr. Schmidt come in like we said above - they have to demonstrate to the top candidates that they are creating an environment for success.

Andrew Lord ‘08
Cardiff Devils (EIHL) Asst. Coach: 2014-20
Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL) Head Coach: 2020-21
Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL) Head Coach and GM: 2021-24
Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) Head Coach: 2024-Present

Lord is another young coach with a promising future, even though he is not rising quite as fast as MacDonald.

In Cardiff, Lord had an excellent record with 30+ wins in every season and no more than 15 losses in any season. He made it to 3 straight finals, and won back to back championships in 2018 and 2019. He then moved back to North America, taking over in Greenville and ended up assuming both HC and GM duties. Lord continued his success there with playoff appearances in all 4 seasons.

Becoming the head coach in Halifax is quite interesting. With CHL players now eligible, those connections will be very important for the next coach, and Lord will have great ones in the QMJHL. However, it’s worth noting that Halifax is near the bottom of the standings this year, and Lord doesn’t have any other junior hockey or NCAA experience. It is likely too soon for him, but he is a coach to watch in the years to come.

Ben Barr ‘04
RPI (NCAA) Volunteer Asst.: 2004-05
Capital District Selects (Peewee) Head Coach: 2005-07
RPI (NCAA) Volunteer Asst.: 2007-08
Union College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2008-12
Providence College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2012-14
Western Michigan Univ. (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2014-16
UMass (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2016-17
UMass (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2017-21
Univ. of Maine (NCAA) Head Coach: 2021-Present

I feel obliged to include Ben Barr here because he should absolutely be the first person that they call about this opening. I also have to be clear here that this has zero chance of happening; when they call him, I honestly don’t even know if he picks up the phone to tell them no. He might let it just go to voicemail. Maine is in a better conference with more history and is currently undergoing $300 million worth of renovations to their facilities. They’re about to make their second straight NCAA tournament. Why leave?

Adam Oates ‘85
Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) Asst. Coach: 2009-10
New Jersey Devils (NHL) Asst. Coach: 2010-12
Washington Capitals (NHL) Head Coach: 2012-14
New Jersey Devils (NHL) Assoc. HC: 2014-15

This also has no chance of happening. Oates runs a private skills coaching company that is highly lucrative. His clients includes numerous NHL players, other professional players, and many top prospects. No reason for him to leave his company to come here, and honestly, I think RPI should be targeting a younger coach who would plan to be here for a longer term.

Brad Tapper ‘00
North York Rangers (OJHL) Head Coach: 2009-10
Florida Everblades (ECHL) Asst. Coach: 2010-13
Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) Asst. Coach: 2013-14
Chicago Wolves (AHL) Asst. Coach: 2014-16
Rochester Americans (AHL) Asst. Coach: 2016-17
Adirondack Thunder (ECHL) Head Coach: 2017-18
Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) Asst. Coach: 2018-19
Okanagan Hockey Ontario U18 (CSSHLE U18) Asst. Coach: 2019-20
Iserlohn Roosters (DEL) Asst. Coach: 2020-21
Iserlohn Roosters (DEL) Head Coach: 2021-22
ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) Asst. Coach: 2022-Present

Tapper was an RPI legend during his playing days at the turn of the century. He spent some time in the NHL before a career overseas. Now, he finds himself as an assistant coach in the top league in Germany, after a litany of stops in the American minor leagues. I don’t think this resume really qualifies him for the job, nor would he necessarily want to move back across the world to Troy. Tapper only lasted 11 months as a head coach in the DEL, and his best experience besides that are AHL assistant jobs. Can’t say I see the fit here.

NCAA Head Coaches

Eric Lang
AIC (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2006-08
Manhattanville College (NCAA III) Head Coach: 2008-11
Army (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2011-16
AIC (NCAA) Head Coach: 2016-Present

The odds-on favorite right now for the job, Lang has come up for pretty much every single ECAC and Hockey East opening the past 5 years and interviewed for many of them. It’s reported that St. Lawrence even made him an offer, but he decided to stick around at AIC instead.

Depending on how many jobs open up this offseason, I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that Lang lands somewhere. In November, it was announced that AIC would be returning to Divison II hockey after 27 years in Division 1. This effectively guarantees that Eric Lang will be taking another job, and I expect him to be highly coveted. After two seasons ramping up his version of the program, Lang ripped off 4 consecutive AHA championships spanning 2018-22, and AIC has been near the top of the league every year. This year was a down year, but on a podcast with Mike McMahon, Lang explained that it has been difficult to get the players to buy into playing a team game because they are all concerned about their numbers to make sure they find spots for next year.

Given RPI is one of the first openings of the offseason, they can be among the first to take a crack at Lang, and since they don’t have to contend with AIC trying to keep him, the odds are higher that he moves than in the past. Lang’s resume is highly decorated with success at one of the worst programs in the country in terms of resources. His accomplishments there are nothing short of phenomenal. The only question is if he can translate the recruiting and wins to a more difficult conference.

Bill Riga
Boston Jr. Bruins (EJHL) Asst. Coach: 1996-2003
Union College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2003-08
Quinnipiac Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2008-14
Quinnipiac Univ. (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2014-21
Holy Cross (NCAA) Head Coach: 2021-Present

RPI fans will be familiar with Bill Riga since he was one of 4 finalists for the job back in 2017. Since then, he continued his success with Quinnipiac as a top program in the ECAC and country before accepting the head coaching position at Holy Cross.

At Holy Cross, he has built up the program into a top program in the Atlantic in a short time. They have gone from 12 wins to 17 to 21 to 22 (and counting). It’s only year 4 of his tenure, and this season, he won the Regular Season title, and they have a good shot at winning the conference tournament to secure an NCAA berth.

Because of that, I don’t think he will want to leave. It would be one thing if Riga had been there 10+ years and won multiple Atlantic Hockey championships and was looking for his next challenge. But he has only been there 4 years and appears to be at only the beginning of what is looking like an excellent tenure as a top program in the league. Many coaches aren’t willing to leave unfinished business behind as they are starting to get things rolling. Still, it is well worth RPI’s time to see if he’s interested.

Brett Riley
Albany Academy (Prep) Head Coach: 2014-17
Wilkes Univ. (NCAA III) Head Coach: 2017-19
Colgate Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2019-20
LIU (NCAA) Head Coach: 2020-Present

Only 34 years old, Riley is very young, but he has risen quickly as a top young coach in college hockey. He has ties to the area from his time at Albany Academy and has familiarity with the ECAC from his time at Colgate. While he was only at Colgate one year, in that year, he secured commitments from numerous very good prospects, some of whom helped them win the ECAC championship in 2022 and some who are still on the team now.

After a year at Colgate, he was tasked with the head coaching position at the brand new program at LIU. They announced they were starting a program very late, and Riley essentially only had 5 months to put together a roster for their inaugural season. It is also no secret that LIU is one of the most underfunded programs in the country, and they have no conference and operate as an independent. Despite those obstacles, Riley has turned LIU into a program that’s very respectable. They have gone from 3 wins to 10 to 13 to 17 to 20 this season. Going 20-12-2 and winding up at 26 in the pairwise at LIU is nothing short of a miracle. His youth, recruiting prowess, and ability to build a program from the ground up could be quite appealing for RPI.

Cam Ellsworth
Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) Asst. Coach: 2008-11
UMass Lowell (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2011-17
UMass Lowell (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2017-18
Norwich Univ. (NCAA III) Head Coach: 2018-Present

Ellsworth was a top assistant in the country while he was at Lowell, helping them build multiple Hockey East championship teams with numerous NCAA tournament berths and a Frozen Four appearance. He then took the Norwich head coaching position in D3, where his teams have been great.

Now that he’s been in D3 for so long, I’m not really convinced Ellsworth should be on the radar. The D1 game has changed massively since he was last in D1 with the transfer portal, CHL eligibility, and recruiting landscape altering college hockey at the Division 1 level. It is so different now that I don’t know you’d want a coach who has now been coaching D3 for 7 years.

Top Assistants

Joe Dumais
Ohio Univ. (ACHA) Asst. Coach: 2006-07
Mahoning Valley Phantoms (NAHL) Asst. Coach: 2007-08
UConn (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2008-11
Union College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2011-15
Union College (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2015-16
Quinnipiac Univ. (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2016-Present

Dumais is easily one of our top choices if we had our pick, and he would be an unequivocal slam dunk hire. Dumais graduated from Quinnipiac in 2006, where he played 4 years for Rand Pecknold and wore an “A” his senior year. He bounced around junior hockey before landing at UConn where he spent 3 seasons. From there, he rose to associate HC at Union under Rick Bennett and played a crucial role in recruiting their 2014 national championship team. He returned to the Bobcats in 2016, where he has been Pecknold’s right-hand man for the better part of a decade now, and won his second national championship in 2023. In fact, Pecknold credits Dumais for designing the play which led to the game winning goal that night as well.

Dumais was a finalist for the Princeton job in 2024 when Ron Fogarty was hired, and has had his name come up in nearly every major opening in the past number of years. Perhaps the most notable is that he turned down the Union job a few years back when Josh Hauge was hired. This begs the question, what is Dumais holding out for? Pecknold is not real old, but could Dumais be holding out for his dream job at Quinnipiac? Is he doing what Ben Barr did and waiting to jump right to a major program? It is hard to say, but RPI would have to pony up some major resources, money, and pledge significantly more backing to the program to get Dumais in the door.

Joe Pereira
Sacred Heart Univ. (ACHA) Head Coach: 2012-13
UConn (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2013-18
UConn (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2018-22
BU (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2022-24

Pereira is an interesting one, and would require Dr. Bowers to draw on the BU connection to pull him in. Pereira is just 37 years old, and like Dumais is now the top lieutenant at his alma mater. He was the captain at BU his senior year, before spending nearly a decade at UConn as an assistant. He is in year 3 as Associate HC at Boston University, coaching future NHL standouts in Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson, Tom Willander, and Cole Eiserman.

The fit here is a little harder to find, as Pereira is young and finds himself in a great role currently. He may not be apt to leave BU and be thrown into a rebuild at RPI. However, he could stay on the East Coast, and RPI may be interested in hiring a young “recruiting guru”. To be honest though, I’m a little skeptical of him as UConn was a middling program his entire tenure there, and BU is one of the easiest programs to recruit for. The fit and ability to make it work at RPI is definitely questionable.

Joel Beal
Albany Academy (Prep) Asst. Coach: 2009-11
Union College (NCAA) Volunteer Asst.: 2011-12
Union College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2012-13
Sacred Heart Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2013-16
Sacred Heart Univ. (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2016-18
Miami Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2018-19
Providence College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2019-Present

I think this may be my favorite fit of all. In theory, you could argue someone like Dumais is a flashier hire, but Beal has Capital Region ties that make this a no-brainer. Beal played for Nate Leaman at Union until 2005 and coached at Albany Academy before notching a job with the Dutchmen in 2011. After 2 years, he moved to Sacred Heart for 5 years, did a year with Miami (OH), and is now in year 6 at Providence. He was promoted to Associate HC for the Friars last summer and is in charge of the PK and recruiting. It has been a down year for their PK, but they were in the top 20 in the country every other year Beal has been there. He also had a hand in recruiting Trevor Connelly to Providence, who was selected in the 1st round of the NHL draft last summer.

At 42, now is the time for Beal to get his first crack at a head job. He has ties to the area, and his resume qualifies him for the job. He is young enough to relate to young players as a great recruiter but has developed his X’s and O’s quite well under Leaman the past 6 years. If Coach Beal is looking to make the jump, I think this makes a ton of sense.

Jason Tapp
Union College (NCAA) Volunteer Goaltending Coach: 2009-11
Union College (NCAA) Goaltending Coach: 2011-12
Union College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2012-16
Union College (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2016-20
Dartmouth College (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2020-Present

Tapp is another ECAC lifer that has been in the conference for 15 years now. I think there are better candidates on this list, but he is definitely qualified for a job at this point. He was at Union when they won their national championship and was Bennett’s top guy by the end. He moved over to Dartmouth in 2020 and has helped Reid Cashman’s resurgence of the program since. I am sure Tapp would interview and take the job if RPI were interested, but I do think they can shoot a little higher.

Chris Brooks
Western Michigan Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 1999-2008
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (CHL) Head Coach: 2008-11
UW-Stevens Point (NCAA III) Head Coach: 2011-17
Michigan Tech (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2017-22
Clarkson Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2022-24
Clarkson Univ. (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2024-Present

Brooks has had a long and decorated career in the NCAA. He got his start at WMU where he coached as an assistant before moving on to become a head coach in the now defunct Central Hockey League. At UW-Stevens Point, he built the program into a National Championship winner, one of the few to win an NCAA championship on this list.

Brooks went back to D1 as an assistant after that. At Michigan Tech, he coached 2 different NCAA tournament teams, and they made the NCAA tournament in 2 straight years after he left with players he helped to recruit. While he hasn’t seen the same success with Clarkson, he was considered a candidate to become the new head coach after Casey Jones departed, and he was widely acclaimed for helping to keep the Clarkson roster intact during the transition. Clarkson thought so highly of him that they promoted him to Associate Head Coach and required JF Houle to keep him on the staff.

There’s no doubt that with his experience at both the D3 and D1 levels, he could make for a good head coach. Winning a national championship is challenging at every level, and Michigan Tech and Clarkson profile fairly similarly to RPI. He’s a solid option should RPI miss out on their top choices.

Non-NCAA Coaches

Dan Muse
Milton Academy (Prep) Asst. Coach: 2005-07
Williams College (NCAA III) Asst. Coach: 2007-08
Sacred Heart Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2008-09
Yale Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2009-14
Yale Univ. (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2014-15
Chicago Steel (USHL) Head Coach: 2015-17
Nashville Predators (NHL) Asst. Coach: 2017-20
USNTDP (USHL) Head Coach: 2020-23
New York Rangers (NHL) Asst. Coach: 2023-Present

Muse has been mentioned as a candidate for numerous jobs over the years, and it’s easy to see why. He helped recruit and build the Yale team that won the National Championship and they were a top program in the decade. Then, he went onto the Chicago Steel in the USHL and won the Clark Cup in his second year there. In Nashville as an assistant, they made the playoffs 2/3 years he was there; the year they didn’t was the COVID year with the weird play-in round in the bubble. With the NTDP, he coached and developed players like Luke Hughes, Trey Augustine, Zeev Buium, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Will Smith, and Gabe Perreault.

There are zero holes in his resume. He has excellent collegiate experience with an ECAC background and a national championship. He has USHL and NTDP experience with success at both those stops, and those connections should instantly help recruiting. Lastly, he has NHL experience, which instantly would bring the program a ton of credibility. This is a top candidate, and honestly, he’s our #1 even over Dumais and Lang with all his quality stops. This is another one that Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Bowers would have to thoroughly convince that RPI has the resources in place.

Greg Moore
USNTDP (USHL) Asst. Coach: 2015-18
Chicago Steel (USHL) Head Coach: 2018-19
Toronto Marlies (AHL) Head Coach: 2019-23
USNTDP (USHL) Head Coach: 2023-Present

I’m honestly quite surprised I haven’t seen Greg Moore’s name pop up anywhere, but I’m more than happy to be the first one to mention him. While Moore currently does not have any collegiate experience, I think he does make up with that with the experience he has.

Moore has tons of USHL experience and connections between his two stints with the NTDP, where he has developed top talent for USA hockey, and his stint as Chicago Steel head coach. In his two years in Chicago, he made it to the finals the first year, and the second year, they went a whopping 41-7-1 on the season (note that he left mid year for Toronto that year though). In Toronto, he became their AHL head coach, and after being slightly below .500 his first season, he improved the next two seasons. His final season, they improved to 42-24-6 to win the division.

Given his USHL experience, it’s easy to imagine that he would instantly be able to recruit some top talent from the league, and ideally, his time in Toronto allowed him to make some OHL connections as well. Moore seems like a really good under-the-radar candidate.

Program Ties

Dan Jewell
SUNY Plattsburgh (NCAA III) Asst. Coach: 2011-12
Hamilton College (NCAA III) Asst. Coach: 2012-14
Bloomington Thunder (USHL) Asst. Coach: 2014-17
RPI (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2017-19
Merrimack College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2019-Present

Old friend Dan Jewell helped recruit the two best teams Dave Smith had. Rumor goes that he had a connection with Owen Savory from a USHL camp during his time in Bloomington, and the rest is history now. Dan has done nice work with Merrimack the last 5 years, which is probably the hardest program to win at in Hockey East. He is seen as a fast riser in the industry and is regarded highly for his work with us and Merrimack. He is obviously familiar with RPI, which you could argue is a good or bad thing. The program was supported a lot less under the last administration when he was here, so I am curious how he reflects on the experience. However, it absolutely makes sense to give Jewell a call, and he would be wise to pick it up and throw his hat in the ring. He isn’t as flashy as the other candidates but could make sense.

Scott Moser
Canisius College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2014-19
RPI (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2019-21
Univ. of Vermont (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2021-Present

Another former RPI assistant under Dave Smith, Moser got his start coaching as an assistant at Canisius while Smith was still their head coach. He helped them build their 2016-17 team that won the Atlantic regular season title. In 2019, he came to RPI to replace Dan Jewell, ironically. He led the PK that season, which operated at 86%, and in his tenure, he also helped land some quality recruits like Sutter Muzzatti and Max Smolinski.

After the COVID year at RPI, he left to go to UVM, and it has always been heavily implied that the school furloughing him during the COVID cancellation led to his departure. UVM has gone from 1 win the year prior to his arrival to 8, 11, 13, and then 11 again, so he has helped them improve. He also has coached as an assistant for Slovakia’s WJC team for a few years now.

The arguments against him will likely keep him from being a serious contender, however. Most of his career is tied to Dave Smith: he played for him, coached under him at Canisius, and coached under him at RPI. The school clearly wants a fresh start for the program, and while his year here was the team’s best year under Coach Smith, it wouldn’t really feel like a new start. Additionally, he is still quite young at 35 and doesn’t feel experienced enough for a head coaching job yet. He’s a promising coach, but it feels like he’s still another 5-10 years away.

Out of the Box

Chris Lazary
St. Michael’s Buzzers (OJHL) Asst. Coach: 2010-12
York Univ. (CIS) Asst. Coach: 2012-13
Waterloo Siskins (GOJHL) Head Coach: 2013-14
Sarnia Sting (OHL) Asst. Coach: 2014-16
Saginaw Spirit (OHL) Assoc. HC: 2016-18
Saginaw Spirit (OHL) Head Coach: 2018-Present

Lazary has had tons of success with Saginaw in the OHL since taking over as head coach midway through the 2018-19 season. In the 6 seasons, he has 3 division titles, 4 playoff appearances (soon to be 5), and he won the Memorial Cup last year, the championship for the entire CHL. This season, he has Saginaw in 4th in the conference. It would be a no brainer to take him given his track record there; it’s hard to win year after year in the OHL with the way its draft works. He would also immediately be able to recruit many OHL players, and he has a track record of development. He has coached Michael Misa, Zayne Parekh, Pavel Mintyukov, and Cole Perfetti to name some big ones and developed all of them extremely well.

Now, would a coach in the OHL who has never coached in the college game and has pretty much only coached in major junior be interested in a college job? Truthfully, I have no idea, and I have no idea what the pay looks like for a CHL job and whether it’d be considered a step up. With all his success at Saginaw, I imagine it would be extremely tough to pull Lazary away from there, but other coaches could be more amenable to the idea. It’s an out of the box idea, but it could pay off if they go that route. It’s worth looking into at minimum.

Troy Mann
Topeka Tarantulas (CHL) Asst. Coach: 2004-05
Columbia Inferno (ECHL) Asst. Coach: 2005-06
Columbia Inferno (ECHL) Head Coach: 2006-08
Charlotte Checkers (ECHL) Assoc. HC: 2008-09
Hershey Bears (AHL) Asst. Coach: 2009-13
Bakersfield Condors (ECHL) Head Coach: 2013-14
Hershey Bears (AHL) Head Coach: 2014-18
Belleville Senators (AHL) Head Coach: 2018-23
Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) Head Coach: 2023-Present

Mann has a long and decorated career in the pros with nearly 10 years as an AHL head coach, 3 years as an ECHL head coach, and many more as an assistant. With Hershey, he accumulated a very good 162-102-40 record, 2 division titles, and a Calder Cup appearance. His stint in Belleville was not as good, but he still went 150-117-22. In total, he has over 300 career wins in the AHL.

The past 2 seasons, he has coached Kingston in the OHL. Last year, they were only slightly above .500 and didn’t make too much noise, but this year, Mann has the team at 36-18-8, good for 4th in the Eastern Conference. I’ve said it many times now, but CHL recruiting is going to be incredibly important for this program to compete nationally. With his experience in the pros working in the minor leagues for development and now his OHL experience, I think Mann is worth a look.

Rick Bennett
Providence College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2000-05
Union College (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2005-07
Union College (NCAA) Assoc. HC: 2007-11
Union College (NCAA) Head Coach: 2011-22
Savannah Ghost Pirates (ECHL) Head Coach: 2022-24
Quinnipiac Univ. (NCAA) Asst. Coach: 2024-Present

This is a funny option if nothing else. After the 2014 Mayor’s Cup debacle, it is hard to see RPI wanting to employ Rick Bennett. But, you could argue that Bennett is more qualified than anyone on this list. He has a national championship to his name and numerous ECAC titles. What holds him back is that he has been trending down basically since the national championship. Union fell off towards the end of his tenure which ended controversially. He was fired in Savannah and then landed on Rand Pecknold’s staff as the #3 guy. Hard to see a world where this happens, but if he ever wanted to return to the capital region, you never know.

Rocky Russo
Mahoning Valley Phantoms (NAHL) Asst. Coach: 2005-09
St. Louis Bandits (NAHL) Asst. Coach: 2009-10
Amarillo Bulls (NAHL) Asst. Coach: 2010-13
Philadelphia Little Flyers (EHL) Head Coach: 2013-15
Philadelphia Little Flyers (EHL) Head Coach and GM: 2015-17
Amarillo Bulls (NAHL) Head Coach: 2017-21
Lincoln Stars (USHL) Head Coach: 2021-Present

Russo is an interesting option as a junior hockey coach with tons of NAHL and USHL experience. He most recently has been the head coach for Amarillo in the NAHL and Lincoln in the USHL. At Amarillo, he built that team into a top one in the NAHL with extremely strong seasons in his last 3 years there. He then moved to Lincoln where they have been a strong team every year of his tenure, and they have not missed the playoffs yet. Russo’s lack of college experience along with having no experience outside of junior hockey is a pretty big detriment to him, and that’s why we have him in this section. We don’t really see him being the type of coach they want.

Tiering the Candidates

We just gave you a huge list with lots of options for the job. There’s plenty of promising coaches who have the experience and resumes to succeed in Troy. Not all candidates are built equally though, so we wanted to give you tiers in terms of who is in the top group, second group, etc. First, note that we won’t be including anyone from the out of the box section nor totally unrealistic hires; we want to tier the realistic options here. The order within the tiers isn’t relevant.

Tier 1 - Homerun Hires

The coaches listed below have little, if any, question marks and would instantly be unanimously lauded across the hockey world. They are brought up practically every year when new head coaching jobs open up in college. Hiring one of these coaches would likely require significant commitments from the administration to get them to come, so it would be a double win as hiring one of them would signal large investment in the program.

Kirk MacDonald

Eric Lang

Joe Dumais

Dan Muse

Tier 2 - Great Hires

The coaches listed below have come up for some other head coaching jobs in the past, but they are not consistently brought up every time. They have some question marks and not as stellar resumes as tier 1, but all of them would do quality jobs as the head coach. The hockey world would react positively, but it wouldn’t be seen with the same level of “wow” factor as tier 1.

Bill Riga

Brett Riley

Joel Beal

Jason Tapp

Greg Moore

Tier 3 - Solid Hires

The coaches listed below usually have not come up for other head coaching jobs, but they have solid resumes and could do a good job. All have question marks to varying degrees and would likely have to quell some concerns. The hockey world would likely have similar questions, and the hire wouldn’t necessarily be seen as a win like the hires in tiers 1 and 2. If someone from this tier is hired, it likely means that RPI missed out on their preferred options.

Andrew Lord

Cam Ellsworth

Joe Pereira

Chris Brooks

Dan Jewell

Scott Moser

Our Rankings

Both of us have come up with our individual rankings of the candidates from this list, but the differences within the tiers aren’t too large for the most part. We mostly agree overall with some minor differences, and some of it is personal preference. Stephen generally would prefer someone younger with a high ceiling who has demonstrated recruiting ability or has the connections to recruit effectively over an older, higher floor option. Chris wants the same thing but wants each candidate to be considered individually. RPI opted for a different archetype from Seth Appert when Smith was hired, therefore passing on Ben Barr who was likely the best option. If Lang or Riga is the best candidate, it shouldn’t be held against them that they are coming from the Atlantic like Smith was.

Chris

1. Dan Muse

2. Joe Dumais

3. Kirk MacDonald

4. Eric Lang

5. Bill Riga

6. Brett Riley

7. Joel Beal

8. Greg Moore

9. Joe Pereira

10. Dan Jewell

11. Jason Tapp

12. Chris Brooks

13. Andrew Lord

14. Scott Moser

15. Cam Ellsworth

Stephen

1. Dan Muse

2. Joe Dumais

3. Eric Lang

4. Kirk MacDonald

5. Bill Riga

6. Brett Riley

7. Joel Beal

8. Greg Moore

9. Jason Tapp

10. Chris Brooks

11. Joe Pereira

12. Dan Jewell

13. Cam Ellsworth

14. Scott Moser

15. Andrew Lord

We separated out our list above based on “archetypes” of coaches (alums, NCAA head coaches, NCAA assistants, etc.), and that will inevitably be something considered by Dr. Bowers and the committee. The first step though is to get the top coaches in each bucket into the building for an interview. It is on the athletic department and institution as a whole to sell the new coach on resources that the past two coaches have not gotten. None of our top choices will take the job if the resources aren’t up to snuff. This will be a fun process to meander through, and we will have updates every step of the way. Let’s hope this is the start of a renewed institutional commitment to hockey, leading a connected rebuild from the top-down. RPI has incredibly loyal fans and the chance to be great again, but the program needs to be supported, and the right hire needs to be made here.

Let’s Go Red!