Ohio State did not waste any time finding a new head hockey coach.
After third-year coach Mark Osiecki was dismissed by the university due to a disagreement in management last week, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith tab Osiecki’s former right-hand man Steve Rohlik, who was named as the squad’s head coach Wednesday.
“I am honored and humbled by this opportunity to become the next coach at Ohio State,” Rohlik said in a statement. “I want to thank Gene Smith, [senior associate athletics director for sport administration] Chris Schneider and the administration for giving me this chance. I look forward to leading this program into the Big Ten.”
Rohlik was hired by Ohio State along with Osiecki during the 2010 offseason when Osiecki replaced 14-year head coach John Markell.
Rohlik was interviewed by the university on Monday and was notified he received a five-year contract Tuesday, according to sources. Rohlik wasted no time informing recruits and commitments on the news on Tuesday as he tries to hold down a small but solid recruiting class for 2013 led by forward Zach Stepan and goalie Matt Tompkins.
“We are pleased Steve has accepted our head coaching position,” Smith added. “He has made positive impressions within the athletics department, in the hockey community and with the men’s hockey student-athletes. He has a well thought-out plan for how to lead our hockey program into the future that is in line with the expectations we have for each of our head coaches.”
Last week, Rohlik was been named the interim head coach after Osiecki was fired.
Rohlik played alongside his predecessor Osiecki at Wisconsin. While Osiecki was an assistant at Wisconsin, Rohlik was a longtime assistant at Minnesota-Duluth.
The position at Ohio State is his first collegiate head coaching job and the first since he coached the Hill-Murray High School squad from 1993-97.
