Last week, the early rumors around who would replace Jerry York behind Boston College’s bench centered around UConn head coach and former York assistant Mike Cavanaugh. But today, Cavanaugh and UConn Hockey seem to have put that speculation to bed with a statement in which Cav reaffirmed his commitment to UConn:
We're looking forward to what's ahead, Coach! #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/uwcEJ98KNt
— UConn Men's Hockey (@UConnMHOC) April 21, 2022
“I am honored to be the UConn men’s hockey head coach, and I am committed to continuing to lead this program into a bright future!,” wrote Cavanaugh in the statement. While the BC opening wasn’t mentioned, this is obviously the subtext.
We don’t know if this indicates Cavanaugh himself was uninterested in moving on, or if he got indications he wasn’t the top choice at BC; we’ll try to clarify. But either way, it looks like Cav will remain at UConn.
With Cavanaugh now looking to be out of the running for the Boston College job, eyes will likely turn mostly to Greg Brown, Jerry York’s other long-time assistant who is now the head coach at USHL’s Dubuque. Rumblings around the college hockey world suggest Brown and Cavanaugh were (no surprise) the two early favorites, so Brown would now be the overwhelming odds-on favorite now.
We’ll keep you updated as things develop.
UPDATE from BCHockeyBlog:
I’m hearing from sources that there was real interest between BC and Cav- he interviewed on Monday and has lots of supporters in the BC admin. UConn stepped up with an enhanced offer. Would be very, very surprised if Brown isn’t the next coach.
— BC Hockey Blog (@BCHockeyBlogger) April 21, 2022