Former Northern Michigan athletic director and hockey coach Rick Comley will serve as interim AD starting today, Aug. 22, following the recent announcement of current AD Forrest Karr’s resignation.
Schuiling made the announcement to the NMU coaches last Friday, Aug. 19.
Comley, who brought NCAA Division I national men’s hockey championships to both NMU (1991) and Michigan State (2007), served Northern as athletic director for 13 years (1987-2000).
His term as AD was punctuated by extensive efforts to ensure compliance with Title IX, the law that requires gender equity in all university activities, including intercollegiate athletics, as well as the planning and construction of the Superior Dome, Berry Events Center and Izzo-Mariucci Academic Center. The rink at NMU’s Berry Events Center is named in his honor. The 1993 and 1994 Wildcat volleyball teams also won NCAA Division II national championships while Comley was AD.
“We are thrilled that a person of Rick’s qualifications for this position is available to return to campus and guide our Wildcat athletics department, National Training Site programs and recreational sports services while we search for our next permanent AD,” said Northern Michigan president Kerri Schuiling in a news release. “Having someone who understands NCAA requirements from both the AD and coaching perspectives is a tremendous benefit. The fact that he’s also an alumnus who is a huge Wildcat fan is an added bonus.”
Comley, who was NMU’s first and longest-serving head coach of the men’s hockey program, is a Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation’s 2020 Legend of College Hockey recipient. He spent 26 years behind the Wildcat bench where he posted a 538-429-68 record. Comley began his coaching career at Lake Superior State. He owns a combined 38-year career coaching record of 783-615-110, which ranks fifth on the all-time NCAA Division I coaching wins list.
Comley earned a master’s degree in education from Northern in 1973 after completing his bachelor’s in political science from LSSU. He was inducted into NMU’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
Schuiling also announced that Northern’s current longtime NCAA faculty representative Julie Rochester has agreed to become the senior adviser for athletics for the upcoming academic year, providing additional support in several athletic areas, especially those related to NCAA compliance.
Rochester is a professor and director of the athletic training education program at Northern. She has been the University’s NCAA faculty athletics representative and chair of the NMU Athletic Council since 2007. She has also served as a member of the NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions and is currently serving her fifth year on the NCAA Division II Management Council as an at-large representative.
She is also a member of the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards & Medical Aspects of Sports and a member of the NCAA’s Drug Testing Appeals subcommittee. She has a doctorate in education from the University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in exercise science from NMU. She began her career at NMU as an athletic trainer (1990-97) in the Intercollegiate Athletic Department while Comley was AD.
“Julie already does so much for Wildcat athletics each year, and we are incredibly grateful that she has stepped up to take on this additional assignment as the department goes through a transition period.”
Schuiling added that a national search for a permanent athletic director will begin shortly. She also said that a full transition team consisting of athletic and non-athletic staff members is being developed to assist during the transition period until a new AD is named.
