May 6, 2005
Jeff Jackson, who led Lake Superior State to NCAA hockey
championships in 1992 and 1994 (and three consecutive trips to the
title game), has been named the fourth head coach in the modern era
of the Notre Dame hockey program. He is the first Notre Dame head coach in any sport to have won an NCAA Division I championship with another program before being hired as an Irish head coach.
Press Conference Quotes
What They're Saying About Jeff Jackson
In making the announcement, 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.
"We're excited he's coming to Notre Dame, and I think it's
fair to say he's excited about the opportunities ahead of him with
our program."
The highly-regarded Jackson brings more than 20 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
from Michigan State. He got his start in college hockey in 1986 as
an assistant coach at Lake Superior State where he served four
years under head coach Frank Anzalone, helping guide the Lakers to
one Central Collegiate Hockey Association 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 (1990-91 to 1995-96), guided
them to six consecutive NCAA appearances, including three straight
trips to the title game from 1992 through 1994.
In 1992 the Lakers defeated Wisconsin in the NCAA
championship game, in 1993 they lost to the University of Maine --
and in 1994 Lake Superior took the title versus Boston University.
Jackson's six-year record at Lake Superior State was 182-52-25 for
a .751 winning percentage, the best among active Division I coaches
with at least 200 games. In CCHA play, the Lakers were 120-38-23,
winning two regular-season championships (1991 and 1996) and four
tournament championships (1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995).
During his six years guiding the Lakers, Jackson produced 12
All-Americans (five first-team picks and seven second-team
selections) 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 State.
Several of Jackson's players advanced to play in the NHL:
Doug Weight (New York Rangers/Edmonton/St. Louis), Brian Rolston
(New Jersey/Colorado/Boston), Keith Aldridge (New York Islanders),
Blaine Lacher (Boston Bruins), John Grahame (Boston Bruins/Tampa
Bay Lightning), Bates Battaglia (Carolina/Colorado/Washington) and
Jim Dowd (New Jersey/Vancouver/New York Islanders/Minnesota Wild).
Following the 1995-96 season, Jackson moved on to take over
as national coach and senior director of the newly-founded United
States National Team Development program based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
In his first season while putting the program in place, he served
as the head coach for the U.S. Junior National Team that captured
the silver medal at the 1997 World Junior Championships, at the
time representing the best finish ever for the U.S. team. Former
Irish captain and current Atlanta Thrasher Ben Simon was a member
of that squad. The following year, he was an assistant coach for
Team USA at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. In his
four years directing the national program, eight former Notre Dame
players came from the developmental program: Brett Henning,
Michael Chin, Connor Dunlop, Paul Harris, John Wroblewski, Brett
Lebda, Neil Komadoski and Rob Globke.
In 2000, Jackson 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.
He then moved on to the New York Islanders of the National
Hockey League where he has served as an assistant on Steve
Stirling's staff the past two seasons. 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.
JEFFJACKSON YEAR-BY-YEAR
| 1986-87 | Lake Superior State | Asst. Coach |
| 1987-88 | Lake Superior State | Asst. Coach |
| 1988-89 | Lake Superior State | Asst. Coach |
| 1989-90 | Lake Superior State | Asst. Coach |
| 1990-91 | Lake Superior State | Head Coach | 36-5-4 | .844 | CCHA | 26-2-4 | .875 | 1st |
| 1991-92 | Lake Superior State | Head Coach | 30-9-4 | .744 | CCHA | 20-8-4 | .68 | 2nd |
| 1992-93 | Lake Superior State | Head Coach | 32-8-5 | .767 | CCHA | 20-5-5 | .75 | 3rd |
| 1993-94 | Lake Superior State | Head Coach | 31-10-4 | .733 | CCHA | 18-8-4 | .667 | 2nd |
| 1994-95 | Lake Superior State | Head Coach | 23-12-6 | .634 | CCHA | 14-9-4 | .593 | t-4th |
| 1995-96 | Lake Superior State | Head Coach | 30-8-2 | .775 | CCHA | 22-6-2 | .767 | t-1st |
| 1996-97 | U.S. NTDP | Head Coach | Led Jr. National team to silver at WJC (best-ever U.S. finish at time) |
| 1997-98 | U.S. NTDP | Head Coach |
| 1998-99 | U.S. NTDP | Head Coach | Seventh at World Under-18 championships (first year) |
| 1999-00 | U.S. NTDP | Head Coach | Eighth at World Under-18 championships |
| 2000-01 | Guelph Storm | Head Coach | 34-23-9-2 | .581 | OHL |
| 2001-02 | Guelph Storm | Head Coach | 37-23-7-1 | .603 | OHL |
| 2002-03 | Guelph Storm | Head Coach | 16-21-8-1 | .426 | OHL |
| 2003-04 | New York Islanders | Asst. Coach |
| 2004-05 | New York Islanders | Asst. Coach |
Record as Head Coach |
| Lake Superior | Head Coach | 182-52-25 | .751 | CCHA | 120-38-23 | .727 |
| Guelph Storm | Head Coach | 87-67-24-4 | .583 | OHL |
• Guided Lake Superior State to three consecutive NCAA title games (1992, 1993, 1994), winning titles in 1992 and 1994. Was an assistant on Lake Superior's 1988 NCAA title team
• Won two CCHA regular-season championships (1991 and 1996) and four CCHA tournament titles (1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995).
• Memorial Cup Finalist in 2002.
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