CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Rob Rassey has been named the next Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Hockey, Erin McDermott, The John D. Nichols '53 Family Director of Athletics, announced today.
The 12th head coach in program history, Rassey returns to Cambridge from Ann Arbor, where he served as associate head coach for the Michigan Wolverines. Joining the Wolverines in 2022 as an assistant coach, Rassey was quickly elevated to associate head coach after his first season.
In the last four years, Rassey helped guide the Wolverines to two Big Ten Tournament Championships and three Frozen Four appearances in four seasons. In 10 seasons coaching college hockey, the Michigan native has coached two Hobey Baker Award winners and two additional Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalists.
"We welcome Rob Rassey back with open arms and excitement for him to lead Harvard Men's Hockey,"Erin McDermott, The John D. Nichols '53 Family Director of Athletics, said on Tuesday. "His belief in the educational and transformational model of college athletics, his proven drive to compete at a consistently high level, and his infectious energy as a leader, rose to the top of a highly competitive field of candidates. We are proud to have Rob join us and to represent the Harvard Crimson as our next head coach."
The 2025-26 season saw the Wolverines stay atop the national polls for 11 straight weeks, the program's longest run at No. 1 since the 1996-97 season, on their way to a third Frozen Four appearance in four seasons. Led by Hobey Baker finalist and Big Ten Player of the Year T.J. Hughes, Michigan earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and entered the Frozen Four with 32 wins, before finishing the year with the best power-play unit in the nation and Division I's top scoring offense.
In 2023-24, Michigan defeated No. 4 North Dakota and No. 5 Michigan State in the NCAA Regionals to advance to the national semifinals before falling to No. 1 Boston College. Another elite offensive year for Michigan saw the Wolverines boast the nation's top power play and a top-five scoring offense, averaging 4.12 goals per game thanks to All-Americans Gavin Brindley, Seamus Casey and Rutger McGroarty.
In his first season in Ann Arbor, Rassey and the 2022-23 Wolverines once again made both the Big Ten Tournament Championship and the Frozen Four. Behind another lethal offense, the Wolverines averaged 4.17 goals per game and won the Big Ten title after beating Minnesota on the road. Led by Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli and NHL first-round draft pick Luke Hughes, Michigan defeated Penn State in overtime to reach the first of three Frozen Four appearances in four seasons.
"I am incredibly excited to be back and to be a part of this program again," Rassey added. "Harvard has always held a special place in my heart, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help lead the next chapter of the program alongside such talented student-athletes."
An assistant coach for the Crimson from 2013-19, Rassey guided Harvard to four NCAA Tournament appearances, two ECAC Hockey titles in 2015 and 2017, and a trip to the 2017 Frozen Four. Having helped develop future NHL players such as Adam Fox, Alex Kerfoot, John Marino, Ryan Donato and Colin Blackwell, as well as 2016 Hobey Baker Award winner Jimmy Vesey, Harvard was ranked in the top 15 in five of his six seasons in Cambridge, getting as high as No. 3 during the 2016-17 season.
Upon leaving the Crimson in 2019 to become a scout with the Detroit Red Wings, Rassey took over as head coach and general manager of the Omaha Lancers of the USHL in 2021 before being named the head coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede prior to accepting the job at Michigan.
A graduate of Northeastern University, Rassey played four seasons and 134 games for the Huskies from 2006-09. He earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Academic Team in all four seasons and won the athletic department's Academic Excellence Award twice. Graduating magna cum laude from Northeastern with a degree in business administration in 2009, Rassey also earned a master's degree from Harvard in 2019.