Saint Michael’s has introduced the rent of Jack Fitzgerald as males’s hockey head coach.
Fitzgerald, a former Amherst and Middlebury assistant coach, turns into this system’s fourth head coach because it was elevated to varsity standing in 1982-83.
He succeeds 13-year head coach Damian DiGiulian, who retired this summer season after main the Purple Knights to the 2024-25 Northeast 10 championship crown.
“I’m honored and excited to be named head coach of the storied Saint Michael’s males’s ice hockey program,” stated Fitzgerald. “I’ve lengthy admired this system’s success and the deep ardour its alumni have for his or her experiences right here. I stay up for constructing on that proud custom, and I can’t wait to get began.”
Fitzgerald helped revitalize the Middlebury males’s hockey program the previous two seasons as the one assistant coach on a two-person employees. The Panthers superior to the NESCAC event semifinals each years after final qualifying in 2015-16, and their 13-12-1 mark final winter was their first above .500 since 2012-13.
“I’m excited to welcome Jack Fitzgerald as the brand new head coach of the Saint Michael’s males’s ice hockey workforce,” stated SMC affiliate director of athletics Annie Martin. “His success in main Amherst to robust scoring and defensive performances alongside along with his capacity to recruit high expertise at Middlebury showcase his talent in growing aggressive groups. We stay up for seeing how his experience will elevate our program and assist our student-athletes’ progress.”
Fitzgerald was an assistant coach at Amherst, his alma mater, for the 4 years previous to touchdown at Middlebury (2019-23). He was the Mammoths’ lead recruiter and each crafted power-play methods and chosen its personnel. Amherst led the NESCAC in power-play share throughout the 2022-23 season after taking second the 12 months earlier than.
Fitzgerald’s ultimate winter at Amherst featured this system’s highest win complete (16-6-4) and first residence semifinal look since 2014-15, with the Mammoths claiming fourth in NCAA Division III in scoring common whereas pacing the NESCAC in scoring protection. Amherst was additionally first within the nation in penalty kill share in 2019-20.
A local of Guilford, Conn., Fitzgerald was a coach, teacher, and assistant director of operations and advertising and marketing at completely different instances with the Guilford-based Elite Hockey Program between 2019 and 2021.
Fitzgerald graduated from Amherst with a level in psychology in 2019. He was a males’s hockey captain as a senior when the Mammoths certified for his or her second NESCAC ultimate throughout his profession. They went a mixed 51-35-16 general and 34-23-15 in NESCAC play throughout his 4 years, the place Fitzgerald netted 43 factors in 102 contests.
He was named to the Winter 2019 NESCAC all-sportsmanship workforce, was a member of the Amherst LEADS Futures Program for 3 years and has been concerned with Particular Olympics Massachusetts since 2015.
