Walt Kyle was head coach at Northern Michigan since Rick Comley left in 2002 (photo: Melissa Wade).Northern Michigan fired Walt Kyle on Friday after 15 seasons as head coach.The school announced that Kyle’s contract wouldn’t be renewed and that it would begin a search for the third head coach in program history.Kyle was 265-263-68 in 15 seasons, after taking over for Rick Comley.The Wildcats were 13-22-4 this season and finished eighth in the 10-team WCHA.”Walt has played a major role in the most significant moments in Northern Michigan hockey history,” Northern Michigan athletic director Forrest Karr said in a statement. “I enjoyed working with him, and I am thankful that he always supported every program in the department. I appreciate his work and dedication to the hockey program and wish him well in all future endeavors.”Kyle played two seasons at Northern Michigan after transferring from Boston College. He captained the 1980 and 1981 Wildcats teams that advanced to the Frozen Four.He was then a graduate assistant under Comley and, starting in 1982, an assistant coach.In 2015, Kyle was placed on administrative leave by the school for undisclosed reasons. He was reinstated a week later.Kyle renegotiated his contract with the school later in 2015, adding an end date of the conclusion of the 2016-17 season instead of a rolling end date, The Mining Journal of Marquette reported.
