Brett Riley is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Ferris State and was previously head coach at

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and an assistant at Colgate.

Career

Riley began his college hockey career as a player at

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

. In four years with the Statesmen Riley played only sparingly, appearing in just 22 games and scoring twice, but was a three-time academic All-American. After graduating with degree in history, Riley began his coaching career at

The Albany Academy Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school in Albany, New York. It enrolls students from Prekindergaten (age 4) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer and the cit ...

, leading the program while also serving as a scout for the

Charlottetown Islanders The Charlottetown Islanders are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are members of the Maritimes Division, and play their home games at the ...

, a team in the

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

. In 2017 he returned to college hockey, becoming the first head coach for

Wilkes University Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and bec ...

, and had a full year to prepare for its inaugural season in 2018–19. When Wilkes hit the ice, the team performed well, finished in a tie for 3rd in the UCHC, but lost their quarterfinal game in the conference tournament. After just one season with Wilkes, Riley was hired as an assistant coach by Colgate, working under one of the most respected men in Division I hockey, Don Vaughan. Riley's tenure with the team saw the Raiders achieve moderate gains, rising from 10th in

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

to 8th and won its first playoff round in five years. Unfortunately, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Colgate's season ended prematurely. Despite his brief tenure at the top level of competition, Riley was brought in to be the first head coach for yet another program. This time he signed on to lead the

LIU Sharks The LIU Sharks are the athletics teams representing Long Island University's (LIU) campuses in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York. The Sharks compete in NCAA Division I athletics and are members of the Northeast Conference. The LIU Sharks are th ...

beginning with the 2020–21 season. He helmed the team for five years, slowly building the program into a winning outfit. In 2025 he was announced as the new bench boss for Ferris State, succeeding the retiring Bob Daniels.

Personal life

Riley is part of a legendary college hockey family, with his father, uncle and grandfather all having coached

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

since

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

. His father Rob also won a

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

while his grandfather

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

coached the US National team to a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

College head coaching record

References

External links

LIU Sharks bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Brett 1991 births Living people American ice hockey coaches Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey coaches LIU Sharks men's ice hockey coaches People from Needham, Massachusetts Ice hockey people from Massachusetts The Governor's Academy alumni