Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato will not return for the 2023-24 season.
Granato just completed his seventh season behind the Badgers’ bench.
“Coach Granato is a great Badger, and no one is more passionate about Wisconsin hockey or the University of Wisconsin than he is,” Wisconsin director of athletics Chris McIntosh said in a statement. “I have great appreciation for the heart and soul that he has poured into the program during his time as head coach.
“I believe our men’s hockey program can consistently compete at a championship level. My intention is to find a coach that will lead the effort to get us there.”
UW went 105-129-16 overall and 65-87-12 in Big Ten play during Granato’s seven seasons.
Granato led the Badgers to the 2021 Big Ten championship and the top seed for that season’s NCAA tournament to highlight a tenure that also included a pair of Big Ten tournament title game appearances in 2017 and 2021. He was named Big Ten coach of the year during those two winning seasons.
During his time as head coach, eight players who played for Granato went on to play in the NHL, while four Badgers earned All-America honors and one captured the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. He also directed the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team in PyeongChang, South Korea, during his time leading the UW program.
Granato ranks third in UW history with 100 goals and fourth with 220 points during his four-year career as a player at Wisconsin from 1983 to 1987, earning a pair of All-America honors and being named a 1987 Hobey Baker finalist.
A 2020 inductee into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and a member of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame, Granato represented his country at seven major international competitions as a player, including the 1988 Olympics, and spent 13 seasons as an NHL player and 13 years as either an NHL head or assistant coach.
Wisconsin will begin a national search for a replacement immediately.
