Things are going to look a whole lot different at Harvard next season.
On Thursday, Harvard announced that Ted Donato would step down as head coach of the men's team. He's been in that job since 2004.
"It is with immense gratitude that I have decided to end my tenure at Harvard as head coach of the men's hockey program," Donato said. "I am proud and grateful for all the incredible moments, everlasting memories, and relationships from my 27 years connected to the university as a student-athlete, coach and parent."
It's always a big deal when a Division 1 job opens. But it's no secret — Harvard is a very big job.
It's early, but these are some names to watch as potential Harvard head-coaching candidates. These are names I've heard from college hockey circles and candidates who I think are viable and would do well. There will most definitely be more names that pop up in the coming weeks who aren't in this story.
Let's dive in.
Dominic Moore
Moore is a big-time Harvard alum, having played for the Crimson from 1999 to 2003. He went on to play 13 seasons in the NHL and joined ESPN's NHL coverage upon retiring. From just asking people around the college hockey world on Thursday, he's a popular name. He doesn't, however, have any college coaching experience.
"Dom Moore's job if he wants it," one college assistant said.
Reid Cashman
Cashman's stock is sky high. He's fresh off winning the Spencer Penrose Award as the Div. 1 men's Coach of the Year. He's been the head coach at Dartmouth since 2020 and has had the Big Green consistently getting better. They won a program-high 23 games this past winter.
James Marcou
Marcou recently left Harvard as an assistant coach to be an assistant at UMass, where he's an alum. The former UMass standout was a volunteer assistant at UMass from 2016-18, an assistant at Brown in 2018-19 and started at Harvard as an assistant in 2019. It's hard to imagine him leaving a job he just took, but he's a strong candidate for Harvard's head coaching gig nonetheless.
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Matt Gilroy
Harvard could opt to stay in-house with Gilroy, who has been an assistant since 2024. He played at Boston University and won the Hobey Baker Award in 2009. He played 225 games in the NHL. A few years after retiring, he became an assistant with the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2022 to 2024.
Ron Rolston
Rolston is currently Providence College's associate head coach. Rolston has been a fixture in the coaching community since 1990, when he was an assistant coach at Lake Superior State. Since then, he's been an assistant coach at Clarkson, Harvard, Boston College and now Providence. He was a head coach with the NTDP from 2004 to 2011 before taking the AHL's Rochester Americans head coaching job in 2011. He was promoted to Buffalo Sabres head coach midway through 2012-13 and stayed in that role through 2013-14.
Jared DeMichiel
DeMichiel, a former goalie, is the current associate head coach at Michigan State. The Avon, Conn., native is known for being a fantastic recruiter, as he's helped build Michigan State back up into one of college hockey's bluebloods. He won a national championship at UMass as an assistant coach in 2021. He was previously an assistant at St. Lawrence from 2014 to 2016.
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Joel Beal
Beal played his college hockey at Union and is currently an assistant at Providence College, where he's been since 2019. Before that, he was at Miami (Ohio) as an assistant for one season, and from 2013 to 2018, he was an assistant and associate head coach at Sacred Heart. He's also known as a terrific recruiter and has been instrumental in getting big names to Providence.
Jason Tapp
Tapp's name is popular in college hockey coaching circles, as he was in the mix for the Brown head coaching job that went to Tom Upton. He's been the associate head coach at Dartmouth since 2020. Before that, he was an assistant coach and eventually associate head coach at Union from 2012 to 2020. If Harvard wants someone with experience in recruiting to an Ivy League school, Tapp would be a great candidate.
Paul Pearl
Pearl is currently the athletic director at Dexter Southfield. But what makes Pearl an interesting name is that he was the associate head coach at Harvard from 2014 to 2018. And he has head coaching experience, as he was the boss at Holy Cross from 1994 to 1996 and from 1997 to 2014.
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Jessica Campbell
Campbell recently left the Seattle Kraken, where she was an assistant coach since 2024. Before that, she was an assistant coach with the AHL's Coachella Valley Firebirds. There were rumors that Yale was looking at her as a potential candidate for the head coaching job that eventually went to Jeff Hamilton. At 33 and having played four years of college hockey at Cornell, Campbell would be an intriguing candidate.
Albie O'Connell
Currently, O'Connell is the chief North American scout for the Montreal Canadiens, but he has a wide range of college hockey coaching experience. He was an assistant at Harvard from 2011 to 2014 and was the head coach at Boston University from 2018 to 2022.
Andy Jones
Jones is a hot name in coaching circles. After being an assistant and associate head coach at UMass Lowell from 2015 to 2023, he took over as head coach at Bentley in 2023. Bentley has made the NCAA tournament the last two years after winning two straight Atlantic Hockey championships.
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Bill Riga
Riga is currently the head coach at Holy Cross, which is where he's been since 2021. Before that, he was at Quinnipiac from 2008 to 2021 as an assistant and associate head coach. After working with the Boston Junior Bruins from 1996 to 2003, his first college work came as an assistant at Union from 2003 to 2008. His name always pops up for different openings.
Jimmy Vesey
Vesey is 32 and currently playing in Switzerland's National League. He's played nine years in the NHL and is a big Harvard alum, having a standout career from 2012 to 2016 and winning the Hobey Baker Award as a senior. This is a bit of a stretch since he's still playing. But Harvard loves its alums, and Vesey is a big one.
Carl Corazzini
Corazzini has been the head coach at St. Mark's since 2014. He has grown the Lions into one of prep’s powerhouses, guiding them to two straight Elite 8 tourneys and the Elite 8 championship game this past March. He's developed many NTDP players and college commits, and specializes in connecting and developing younger players. He played in the NHL, AHL and his college hockey at BU.
