Boston College hockey coaching search rumors and updates - April 25

Things have remained fairly quiet in terms of hard news out of the Boston College men’s hockey coaching search, with the exception of Mike Cavanaugh’s withdrawal from consideration late last week.

That said, a roundup of what we’ve seen or heard:

• Greg Brown is, unsurprisingly, still considered the favorite to land the job, and either has already interviewed or will interview soon.

Brown’s Dubuque Fighting Saints just finished up their regular season over the weekend with a 40-16-6 record, the second time Dubuque has reached the 40-win mark in franchise history. They head in to the playoffs next weekend. Dubuque’s playoff run could go through May 25, so that could impact timing if Brown is the top choice.

• That said, despite Brown being the favorite, BC is running a comprehensive search and is interviewing multiple candidates - it’s not a fait accompli.

We’ve heard that numerous candidates interviewed over the weekend, as BC really shifted its process into a higher gear as the coaches convention in Naples, Florida started to wrap up. We’ve learned that Brendan Buckley and Mike Ayers, BC’s current assistants, both have interviewed, as Jerry York suggested on the day of his retirement.

• College Hockey News reported that BC has reached out to current D1 head coaches about their interest in the job, including doing due diligence on some of the top names (without saying who those top names are). The only current D1 coach we know of who has supposedly been in touch with BC about the job in recent days is Eric Lang, the head coach at AIC, who has coached that program to a remarkable turnaround. Mike Hastings, who has been heavily linked to both the BU and Michigan State openings, does not seem to be in the mix at BC at this point.
• One surprising name who reportedly interviewed for the job according to The Boston College Hockey Blog (the artist formerly known as The Kid) is Providence College associate head coach Ron Rolston. Rolston was assistant coach at BC from 2002-2004 before spending 7 years as head coach of the US National Team Development Program, then took a tour of duty as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres before returning to the college game with Nate Leaman since 2017.
• Rolston’s involvement in the process would seem to suggest that among the ‘big names’ BC theoretically could make a play for, Nate Leaman isn’t one of them, though we don’t know that for sure.
• BC alum and former Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy is campaigning hard for the job according to multiple reports, and has been in conversation with BC, though we are not sure to what extent at this time.