Brett Riley will be the first head coach of the Long Island University hockey program, the school is expected to announce. The news was first reported on Twitter by ESPN’s John Buccigross and has been confirmed to New England Hockey Journal by multiple sources.
On April 30, LIU announced it would be forming a Division 1 hockey program that would start play this fall. The timing isn’t great with just over four months to recruit a roster of players to be on campus when classes start.
Prior to the announcement of the new program, the school had reached out to several coaches in the Northeast. Many were concerned with the budget and the seemingly haphazard approach by the school’s administration.
Riley, 29, will be the youngest head coach in Division 1 hockey. What he lacks in experience, he makes up for in pedigree. The Needham, Mass., native just finished his first season in Division 1 as an assistant coach on Don Vaughan’s staff at Colgate.