Jeff Jackson Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: Michigan State '78

When Notre Dame went looking for a new hockey coach following the 2004-05 season, the University searched for a coach who could move the program among the elite hockey schools in the country. The search took them in one direction - Jeff Jackson.

The veteran coach owned a resume packed with success at the collegiate, junior hockey, professional and international levels. Throughout his coaching career, Jackson's teams had been successful both on and off the ice and the hope was that he could deliver those same qualities for the Irish.

After four seasons as the guiding force behind the Notre Dame bench, its safe to say that the Irish hit a home run with the selection of Jackson.

In that span, Notre Dame has become one of the nation's top teams, winning the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's (CCHA) regular season and tournament titles twice - taking both titles in 2006-07 and 2008-09 - and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament (2006-09), advancing to Notre Dame's first-ever NCAA Frozen Four appearance and a trip to the national championship game in 2007-08.

Over the past three seasons, Jackson's icers are the winningest team in the nation in wins and winning percentage, going 90-29-10 (.742) since the start of the 2006-07 campaign.

With win totals of 32, 27 and 31 from `06-'09, Notre Dame teams have put together three consecutive seasons of 25-or more wins and made three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances for the first time.

After advancing to the national championship game in `07-'08, the Irish started slowly in 2008-09 and went into Halloween with a 2-3-0 record. It would be almost three months before Notre Dame would lose again as the Irish went on a 20-game unbeaten streak (17-0-3) from Oct. 31 to Jan. 17, while being number one in the nation for seven consecutive weeks for the second time in the program's history.

After seeing the streak stopped, Notre Dame would lose just one more time in the regular season and ended the regular season and the CCHA tournament on a 10-game winning streak.

The Irish finished first in the conference with a 21-4-3-3 record, eight points ahead of second place Miami and Michigan.

The Irish advanced to Joe Louis Arena for the third consecutive year by beating Nebraska-Omaha, 5-0 and 1-0, in the second round of the playoffs. The Irish then knocked off Northern Michigan, 2-1, in the semifinals and then rallied from a 2-0 deficit to knock off Michigan for the CCHA title in a 5-2 victory.

Notre Dame went into the NCAA Tournament as the top seed in the Midwest Regional and were upset in the opening round by Bemidji State, 5-1.

While the ending wasn't quite what Jackson and his team were hoping for, the year would go down as one of the most successful for the Irish. The 31 wins were the second most ever at Notre Dame and the Irish had the lowest goals-against average in the nation (1.71) for the second time in three years.

The stingy defense resulted in a nation-leading nine shutouts while the Irish power-play led the country by scoring at a 22.6% clip. For the first time since the 1976-77 season, Notre Dame had two players selected All-American as defenseman Ian Cole took first team honors and Erik Condra, second team honors.

In just four seasons guiding the Irish, Jackson has seen the program go from five wins to 13 victories in his first season, to 90 wins over the last three years. For his tenure behind the Notre Dame bench, Jackson is 103-48-14 for a .667 winning percentage.

In 2007-08, the Irish were 27-16-4 on the year and finished fourth in the CCHA with a 15-9-4 mark. They advanced to the CCHA Tournament in Detroit, but scored just twice at Joe Louis Arena in an overtime loss to Miami in the semifinals and a third-place loss to Northern Michigan.

The last at-large team to make the NCAA tournament, the Notre Dame offense came to life when it counted. Advancing to the NCAA West Regional, the Irish knocked off New Hampshire, 7-3, in the first game of the regional and then stopped Michigan State, 3-1, to win the region to become the first fourth-seeded team to advance to the Frozen Four.

At the Frozen Four, Jackson's squad upset No. 1-ranked Michigan, 5-4, in overtime to move to the national championship game versus Boston College. The Eagles ended the magical ride with a 4-1 victory in Denver.

After going 13-19-4 in his first season behind the bench in 2005-06, Jackson's `06-'07 team got the ball rolling towards Irish hockey success.

During that season, Notre Dame set school records for overall wins (32) and CCHA victories (21) on the way to capturing Notre Dame's first-ever CCHA regular-season and tournament champion-ships.

For the first time in the program's history, the Irish were ranked No. 1 in the nation, holding that lofty perch for seven straight weeks from Feb. 5 through March 25. They made their second appearance in the NCAA tournament (first as a No. 1 seed) and won their first tournament game.

For his successful season behind the Irish bench, Jackson was named the CCHA coach-of-the-year and the winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach-of-the-year.

While Jackson's icers have gotten the job done on the ice, they have also acquitted themselves quite nicely off the ice in both the classroom and the community. As a team, the Irish turned in a 3.38 grade-point average in the classroom and they are heavily involved in the University's community service work.

During his first two years behind the bench, Jackson's teams made 15- and 19-point improve-ments in the conference standings, going from last in `04-'05 to eighth in `05-'06 to first during the `06-'07 season. That two-season jump made the Irish just the third team in CCHA history to go from worst-to-first over a two-year span.

The 54-year-old bench boss took over the Notre Dame hockey program on May 6, 2005 as the fourth coach since the program's Division I inception in 1968.

For Jackson, it was a return to his roots - coaching at the collegiate level - where he got his start behind the bench at Lake Superior State.

He inherited a team that struggled through a difficult 5-27-6 season in 2004-05 and had lost confidence in itself. The Roseville, Mich., native and his staff went right to work to change the team's attitude and perception.

They made giant strides on and off the ice in that first season directing the team's fortunes.

After a slow start (3-9-1), his players began to buy into what the new coach was selling and the Irish finished the year with a 10-10-3 mark over the final 23 games. In CCHA play, the Irish showed a 15-point improvement over `04-'05 - going from 3-20-5 to 11-13-4 - good for eighth place in the league and the final home-ice spot in the CCHA playoffs. Only Miami made a bigger jump in `05-'06 with a 16-point improvement.

In Jackson's first four seasons, the Irish have played with poise and discipline, relying on team defense, strong goaltending and excellent special teams play. They also have laid the foundation for future seasons with major success on the recruiting trail.

Over the past three years, Jackson has seen his teams lead the nation in team defense twice, (1.63 goals against in `06-'07 and 1.71 in `08-'09), penalty killing (.904 success rate in `06-'07) and the power play (22.6% in `08-'09).

Jackson heads into the 2009-10 season with a nine-year collegiate record of 285-100-39 for a .718 winning percentage, the best percentage among all Division I coaches with five years or more in Division I. His 285 career wins ranks 12th among active coaches.

Success is nothing new for Jackson on the Division I level. He returned to college hockey in `05-'06 after nine years away. In six years at Lake Superior State, Jackson's teams won two NCAA titles in 1992 and 1994 (also advancing to the finals in 1993), two CCHA regular-season championships (`91 and `96) and four CCHA playoff trophies (`91, `92, `93 and `95). His 1992-93 team also advanced to the NCAA championship game, losing a 5-4 decision to Maine.

In taking over the Irish coaching duties in `05, Jackson became the first Notre Dame head coach to have won an NCAA Division I championship with another program before being hired as an Irish head coach. In making the announcement of Jackson's hiring, then Notre Dame director of athletics, Kevin White said, "Jeff Jackson has a first-hand appreciation of exactly what it takes to be successful at the very highest level of the collegiate hockey world. His accomplishments at Lake Superior State in winning multiple NCAA titles - combined with his work and connections from the United States national developmental program and from the professional level - provide him a solid foundation from which to lead the Notre Dame hockey program." 

The highly regarded Jackson brings over 23 years of coaching experience to the Irish as an assistant and a head coach at the NCAA Division I level, on the international level with the U.S. national program, in major junior hockey and at the National Hockey League level.

A 1978 graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in communications, Jackson followed with a degree in education in 1979.

Jackson got his start in college hockey as an assistant coach at Lake Superior State in 1986 where he served four years under Frank Anzalone, helping guide the Lakers to one CCHA championship and the 1988 NCAA title.

When Anzalone moved to the professional ranks following the 1989-90 season, Jackson took over as the head coach of the Lakers and in a six-year span (1991-96), guided them to six consecutive NCAA appearances, including three straight trips to the title game from 1992 through 1994.

In his first season behind the Lakers' bench, Jackson's squad was 33-10-3 overall and 26-2-4 in league play, winning the CCHA regular-season and tournament titles. They lost in the NCAA quarterfinals to Clarkson, two games to one.

A year later, Lake Superior State ran off its second 30+ win season under Jackson, going 30-9-4 on the year, while finishing second in the league with a 20-8-4 mark. The Lakers proceeded to knock off Alaska Anchorage and Minnesota in the regionals before beating Michigan State (4-2) in the semifinals and Wisconsin (5-3) in Albany, N.Y., in the first of three consecutive trips to the NCAA finals.

The Lakers were 32-8-5 during the 1992-93 season and finished third in the CCHA with a 20-5-5 record. They captured the league's tournament title by beating Miami, 3-0, in the finals at Joe Louis Arena. Lake Superior defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the West Regional to advance to the finals at Milwaukee, Wis. There, the Lakers defeated Boston University in the semifinals and then faced Maine, led by Paul Kariya and Jim Montgomery, in the finals. A third-period rally by the Black Bears gave them a 5-4 win.

Lake Superior didn't dwell on the loss for long as the Lakers' success continued with a 31-10-4 record and a second-place CCHA finish in 1993-94. After losing to Michigan in the CCHA championship game, Jackson's team rebounded by winning overtime games versus Northeastern (6-5), Michigan (5-4) and Harvard (3-2) to face Boston University in the title game at St. Paul, Minn. The Terriers weren't much of a match for the Lakers as they recorded their second championship in three years with a 9-1 win.

Jackson's Lakers followed their second championship season in 1994-95 with a 23-12-6 record and won their fourth CCHA tournament title. In the NCAA tournament, Lake Superior defeated Clarkson in the first game of the East Regional and then lost to Boston University in the Regional final.

In his final season in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Jackson saw the Lakers return to the 30-win plateau, going 30-8-2 overall and winning their second regular-season title with a 22-6-2 mark. Lake Superior then lost to Michigan in the CCHA title game (just the second CCHA tournament loss in Jackson's six years - 24-2) and saw the season come to an end with a loss in the East Regionals to Vermont.

During his six years guiding the Lakers, Jackson produced 12 All-Americans (five first team and seven second team) and one Academic All-American. In 1991, he was recognized as the CCHA coach of the year. He is just one of 12 coaches to win multiple NCAA championships. From 1993-96, he also served as the Director of Athletics at Lake Superior.

Several of Jackson's players advanced to play in the NHL. The list includes: Doug Weight, Brian Rolston, Keith Aldridge, Blaine Lacher, John Grahame, Bates Battaglia and Jim Dowd.

On June 7, 1996, Jackson was named the national coach and senior director of the newly founded U.S. National Team Development program based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his first season while putting the program in place, he served as the head coach for the United States Junior National Team that captured the silver medal at the 1997 World Junior Championships, at the time, the best finish ever for the U.S. team. Former Irish captain Ben Simon, was a member of that squad.

The following year, Jackson served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In his four years directing the national program, eight former Notre Dame players came from the developmental program. The list includes: Brett Henning, Michael Chin, Connor Dunlop, Paul Harris, John Wroblewski, Brett Lebda, Neil Komadoski and Rob Globke.

In 2000, Jackson left the U.S. program and took over as coach of the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Guelph Storm where he turned a losing franchise around, finishing in second place in his first season with a 34-23-9-2 record. In the 2001-02 season, the Storm went 37-23-7-1 and hosted the Memorial Cup, advancing to the tiebreaker game where they lost to Victoriaville. In two-and-a-half seasons in Guelph, Jackson had an 87-67-24-4 record.

From Guelph, Jackson moved on to the National Hockey League's (NHL) New York Islanders where he served as an assistant on Steve Stirling's staff from 2003-05. In 2003-04, the Islanders finished third in the NHL's Atlantic Division with a 38-29-11-4 record, good for 91 points. The Islanders lost in the first round of the playoffs to eventual Stanley Cup winner, Tampa, four games to one.

In May of 2003, Inside College Hockey, ranked Jackson 12th on its list of the 16 Greatest College Coaches of all-time with only five of the 16 still active in coaching.

Born June 22, 1955, Jackson is a member of the USA Hockey Coaches Achievement Program, the American Hockey Coaches Association and the National Hockey League Coaches Association.