Friday, October 20, 2017 
 
 FACEOFF 2017
5B

per se, but we are in the entertainment 
business. You want people to come 
into the building and be entertained 
and enjoy their experience here, and 
so we wanted to put a quick, fast, high-
energy, high-scoring team together.”

Those efforts were soon fulfilled. In 

1991, Michigan qualified for the NCAA 
Tournament for the first time in 14 
years, and stormed into the Frozen 
Four the next year. The dynasty was 
up and running, as the Wolverines 
made six Frozen Four appearances 
and won two national titles between 
1992 and 1998, finishing among the 
top three teams in the country in goals 
scored each of those years. Three 
times, a Wolverine was the leading 
points-scorer in the NCAA — Denny 
Felsner in 1992 and Brendan Morrison 
in 1996 and 1998.

With 
this 
success 
came 
the 

possibility of a head coaching job 
for Pearson — most notably, Miami 
of Ohio offered him the position 
in 1999. But through all Pearson’s 
years at Michigan, being just an 
assistant coach never weighed on 
him, as Berenson gave him and other 
assistants so much responsibility that 
“you felt like a co-coach.”

“I remember talking to Red and 

I think Tom Goss was the Athletic 
Director at the time, and talked to 
Lloyd Carr, the former football coach,” 
Pearson said of declining Miami’s 
offer. “Because Lloyd stayed here for a 
long time and really didn’t have to go 
away to become a head coach, and he 
(asked), ‘Why make two moves if you 
don’t have to make any?’

“I always said back in the day I 

didn’t have to become a head coach 
to feel like I (had accomplished 
anything) as a coach, because we had 
touched so many players. But I love 
Michigan so much too, it (was) hard to 
consider leaving.”

***

Berenson had once told Pearson 

that he wouldn’t be coaching at 60. 
But Berenson turned 71 during the 
2011 season, and it was obvious he 
wouldn’t coach forever — although 
Pearson says it sometimes seemed 
that way. According to Pearson, then-
athletic director Dave Brandon was 
open about the situation.

“(He) said, ‘If Red leaves you’d 

be a good candidate, but there’s no 
guarantees,’” Pearson said, “‘and if 
you go out and get head coaching 
experience and do a good job, you’d 
probably be a better candidate.’”

The opportunity to do so came in 

2011, but it came a little too soon for 
Pearson. Just four days after Michigan 
had lost in the national championship 
game, a 3-2 overtime defeat to 
Minnesota-Duluth, Michigan Tech 
offered him its vacant head-coaching 
position.

“I get that they wanted to make 

sure they get somebody quick before 
the season was too far over,” Pearson 
said. “(But) after you lose like that it’s 
gut-wrenching. It was an emotional 
time. You just lost the national 

championship. That sticks with you; 
it still sticks with me now. So if you 
can imagine them saying, ‘We need an 
answer within 48 hours or so,’ I just 
wasn’t ready.”

With time, though, the heartbreak 

of that defeat began to subside, and 
Pearson was prepared to make the 
move. In May 2011, he became the 
Huskies’ head coach, and went to 
work rebuilding a team that had gone 
4-30-1 the previous season.

“(It was) challenging at times, 

because you’re learning on the job 
too,” Pearson said. “You’re not sure 
if you’re doing the right things at the 
time. It’s easy to question yourself, 
but I had a great staff and we really 
believed that we knew that we could 
change things. Having come from a 
place like Michigan and how they run 
things, I think I was very well schooled 
by Coach Berenson and Michigan and 
even Coach MacInnes from Michigan 
Tech and Coach Ikola from high 
school — three Michigan men. Great 
coaching, great philosophies, great 
systems.

“There was nowhere to go but up 

— they’d only won 15 games in the 
previous three years. But there were 
some good pieces there, I think they 
just needed direction and leadership.”

Pearson hired two of his former 

star players at Michigan — Muckalt 
and Steve Shields — as assistant 
coaches. And just as he did with the 
Wolverines, 
Pearson 
emphasized 

tenacious recruiting to turn the 
Huskies around.

“We got young men up to Michigan 

Tech that had our vision and fit our 
style of play that we knew that we 
could win with. That was the biggest 
thing,” Pearson said. “Slowly but 
surely, as you start winning you 
attract better recruits. I remember the 
first few days, you’d say you’re from 
Michigan Tech and they’d hang up 
right away.”

However, the recruits that Pearson 

did sign often found success. Muckalt 
attested to Pearson’s ability to connect 
with players and help them reach their 
fullest potential.

“One of Mel’s greatest strengths 

is the ability to get the most out of 
everyone,” Muckalt said. “He’s not a 
yeller or a screamer, but finds a way 
to get them to respond to help the 
team.”

And as Pearson’s recruiting classes 

took shape, Michigan Tech took off. In 
2014, the Huskies earned their first-
ever No. 1 national ranking, winning 
29 games that season, and qualified 
for the NCAA Tournament twice in 
three seasons.

Despite this success — or maybe as 

a result of it — speculation continued 
to 
run 
rampant 
about 
Pearson 

being a candidate at Michigan after 
Berenson’s 
retirement. 
Pearson 

doesn’t downplay the impact that 
it had, especially when it came to 
recruiting, even though he remained 
fully committed to Michigan Tech.

“It was a distraction at times 

because when you’re recruiting, first 
question that came up with recruits 
(was): ‘How long are you going to 
be here? Are you interested in the 
Michigan job?’” Pearson said. “There 
were no guarantees. I wasn’t sure if I’d 
ever come back to Michigan. I thought 
Michigan Tech was going to be my last 
job.

“It was hard right from the get go. 

Day one. Your name was associated 
with that just because of the number 
of years I’ve spent at Michigan and the 
amount of success that we all had here 
together.”

***

When Berenson retired in April, it 

set off what Pearson calls a “crazy” 
two weeks.

“Crazy 
in 
the 
sense 
that 

everybody just associated myself 
with the job,” Pearson said. “I 
hadn’t talked to anybody. Anybody 
at Michigan. Even Coach Berenson. 
After a while it gets to be a little bit 
of a nuisance.”

There’s a clear reason for that 

“craziness”, 
however. 
There’s 
no 

doubt that people view Pearson as a 
‘Michigan Man’, having helped build 
one of the most prestigious programs 
in college hockey. And when Pearson 
was officially hired, it surprised no 
one.

“Mel’s a great choice,” Muckalt 

said. “He’s earned it and been here 
a long time and had a lot of success 
and proven himself as a head coach. 
Obviously it’s a great progression for 
Michigan.”

It wasn’t all about hockey, though 

— sentimental reasons also drew 
Pearson back to Ann Arbor.

“I had 23 great years here,” Pearson 

said. “Lot of fond memories here — 
not just hockey memories. Whether 
it’s football and being in the stadium, 
watching Charles Woodson run the 
punt back against Ohio State or all the 
great sporting events, or being here 
when Michigan won its first softball 
national 
championship, 
basketball 

winning the national championship 
when I was an assistant coach here. 
Just the people 
of Ann Arbor, the 

town itself, the 
university. 
The 

University 
of 
Michigan. All my 

children 
went 
to Michigan.”

After 
Pearson officially 

became 
Michigan’s 

head 
coach, 
it 
became 
even 

more 
hectic. 
Due to the nature 

of 
college 
athletics, 
the 

constant 
recruiting 

cycle 
and 
the 
pressures 

of 
having 
to 
find a place to 

live, 
Pearson 
wasn’t 
afforded 

any 
initial 
acclimation 

period or time 
to relax — “My golf 

game suffered”, 
he jokes — but he 

says that it was 
a time he “sort of 

enjoyed”.

“You have to 
get straight into it,” 

Pearson 
said. 
“It’s 
right 
from 

contacting 
all 
the players that 

were currently 
here, 
contacting 

the recruits just 
to make sure they 

were 
still 
on 
board and there 

was a place for them here and they felt 
comfortable with me. Then you jump 
right into the recruiting. It’s 24/7, 365 
now. Not many days where you have a 
down day.”

Of course, Pearson is no stranger to 

this. It’s his drive and work ethic that 
helped turn Michigan and Michigan 
Tech into powerhouses. It’s those 
same qualities that he hopes to apply 
to a young, raw but talented Wolverine 
roster this year.

So far, Michigan appears to be 

receptive to both Pearson and his new 
staff’s demeanor and coaching style.

“(Pearson and Muckalt are) super 

excited to be here,” sophomore 
forward Jake Slaker said. “They’re 
Michigan men and they always 
wanted to be here. Now that they got 
the jobs they couldn’t be more excited 
to be here. Their energy levels are high 
every day, they love to come to work, 
which makes it easier on us because 
we love to come to work as well.”

Added 
sophomore 
goalkeeper 

Hayden 
Lavigne: 
“It’s 
definitely 

different, in a good way. Coach Mel is 
very enthusiastic and very upbeat and 
I think the guys are responding well 
to that.”

But in Pearson’s own words, he’s 

not here to create any legacy of his 
own. For him, it’s about the past — 
upholding the tradition that spans 
back from Berenson, to Al Renfrew, 
Vic Heyliger and countless other 
Michigan greats.

“I’m just the gatekeeper here,” 

Pearson says. “I just make sure 
we keep things in order and keep 
Michigan hockey in the national 
spotlight where it should be.”

Pearson knows the task of replacing 

a legend presents a challenge unlike 
any he has ever faced. He knows he 
isn’t the next Red Berenson, and he’s 
not trying to be.

What matters to Pearson, though, is 

that he’s at home.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Mel Pearson isn’t worried about his legacy, but instead, is just happy to make his return.

