Wayne Wilson, the winningest coach in Rochester Institute of Technology history, announced his retirement Wednesday. It’s expected that a successor will be announced in the coming days.
The only coach in NCAA history to win the Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Coach of the Year and the Edward Jeremiah Award for Division III coaches, Wilson guided RIT to four Atlantic Hockey America playoff championships, six regular-season titles, and four Division I NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2010 Frozen Four in the school’s fifth year at the Division I level.
“After 40 years of coaching, it’s bittersweet to announce my retirement,” said Wilson. “I don’t know if there is ever a good time to retire but I feel that it’s the right time for me.
“There are countless people to thank for making coaching college hockey such a great job for so many years. I truly enjoyed coming to work every day to push teams and players to reach their goals. I couldn’t have done that without great assistants and players who were all committed to being their best.”
Wilson captained Bowling Green to the 1984 national championshipship and later served as an assistant coach at New Hampshire and BGSU before taking the reins at RIT in 1999. He guided the Tigers from the Division III ranks to Divsion I in 2005, compiling a combined record of 471-337-82 during his 26 seasons behind the bench.
“Coach Wilson had a profound impact on RIT Hockey,” said RIT executive athletic director Jacqueline Nicholson. “Few coaches can say they directed a program through a transformation like he did, but an even smaller number can boast the same level of success he was able to sustain at the highest level of competition.”
Wilson coached 13 All-Americans during his tenure, including Hobey Baker Award finalists Simon Lambert (2007-08) and Matt Garbowsky (2014-15). Thirty-six of Wilson’s players totaled 55 Atlantic Hockey all-conference honors including three players of the year. Eleven of his players were also named AHA all-rookie team members, including Chris Tanev in 2010, who went on to become the first player in program history to play in the NHL, appearing in over 850 career games since.
“I want to thank my former coaches at Bowling Green, Jerry York, Bill Wilkinson, Buddy Powers and the late Terry Flanagan, for instilling the fire in me to coach,” said Wilson. “I would also like to thank Bowling Green, New Hampshire and RIT for giving me the opportunity to coach, especially RIT executive athletic directors Lou Spiotti and Jackie Nicholson for their support and all they provided me and my family.”
