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Thursday, June 4, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Red Berenson appointed special adviser to Big Ten commissioner

When new Big Ten commissioner
Kevin Warren visited Yost Ice Arena
in February, he was on a mission.
Warren set a goal to see every
team at every Big Ten institution
play at least once in the first year
of his tenure, so watching the
Michigan hockey team take on
Wisconsin on Feb. 7 was just a step
along that path. But Warren had
a second goal that day: Get former
Michigan coach Red Berenson to
join his staff as a special adviser for
hockey operations.
At 80 years old, three seasons
removed from his retirement after
33 years behind the bench for the
Wolverines,
Berenson
attends
nearly every home game and can
be found holding court from the
first box on the right. That night,
Warren joined him.
“He made it a point to corner
me and we sat down and talked,”
Berenson told The Daily. “He said
he really felt strongly about Big Ten
hockey and hockey in general. …
He said he just loves hockey and he
wants to see the Big Ten conference
get better and he wants me to be his
special adviser and work with him

in trying to make the conference
better.”
A
few
weeks
after
their
conversation at Yost, Berenson
signed on and began his role as
Warren’s special adviser on hockey,
as first reported by Todd Milewski
of the Wisconsin State Journal.
Two weeks later, the remainder
of the college athletics season
was canceled. There have been no
decisions made about next season,
which changes things for Berenson.
It’s a rule-change year for
college hockey, which only adopts
rule changes every other year, so
ordinarily, this summer would
be
filled
with
meetings
and
conferences among Big Ten coaches
and coaches across the country
— exactly the kind of meeting
Berenson would attend. Now, those
meetings have become conference
calls, but discussions haven’t slowed
down in the slightest.
“Everyone’s
working
from
home, but it’s amazing how they’re
still inspired and invested in the
upcoming season,” Berenson said.
“Whatever the conversations have
been about rules or overtime or
whatever it’s been, the coaches are
all over it. It’s been really good.”
Berenson’s
role
currently

involves being on just about every
conference call that happens in
college hockey — whether it’s
with Big Ten coaches, coaches
across the league, other Big Ten
administrators or commissioners of
other leagues that sponsor hockey.
Once a week, he has a call with
Warren to stay up to date on the rest
of the Big Ten and update Warren
on what’s happening on the hockey
side of things.
And despite taking on this new
role, Berenson is continuing to
work for the Michigan athletic
department as an adviser to athletic
director Warde Manuel — though
he’s technically retired.
“I enjoy it,” Berenson said. “I
really do. I can’t say that I miss
coaching. I don’t miss coaching,
but I enjoy the games, I enjoy the
environment. I love going to Yost.
I know all the coaches around
the league, and they’ve been very
receptive to my coming on board.”
Since
the
Big
Ten
began
sponsoring hockey in 2013, there
have been a myriad of criticisms
of how the league has handled
the sport. Everything from TV
presence to team performance has
come under fire, and Berenson is
taking on the task of dealing with

those concerns.
“My goals are whatever’s best
for the conference, but I’d like to
help it grow in the right direction,”
Berenson said. “You’d like to see
the teams do well. You’d like to see
the chance of expansion. I would
be a big promoter of expansion,
particularly within the Big Ten. For
example, there were rumors Illinois
might be interested in adding
hockey, and then this virus hit. …
I’ll stay close to Steve Piotrowski,
who’s the head of officials, and in
terms of officiating and just making
the conference better.
“…I want to improve the game and
then improve the communication
with the teams and the coaches. If
there are things we need to address
as a conference, they can work
through me. Kevin and I have a
good line of communication, so I
think that’ll help where you’re not
dealing with non-hockey people.”
With
Warren
as
the
commissioner,
the
Big
Ten
intends to put a greater focus on
hockey — a contrast to how things
where handled under previous
commissioner Jim Delany, who
focused primarily on football and
basketball.
“The thing that really inspires

me is Kevin’s passion for hockey,”
Berenson said. “It’s not like he
doesn’t
know
anything
about
hockey. He knows a lot about
hockey, and he cares about hockey.
I don’t know that we’ve had that
passion, necessarily, coming out
of the Big Ten office for hockey.
It’s been a conference maybe
driven strictly by football or some
basketball, but it sounds now that
he wants hockey to get better.”

After playing every minute last season, Marc Ybarra has more in the tank

The final whistle blew against
Wake Forest in the Sweet Sixteen,
ending a long race for the Michigan
men’s soccer team. The 3-1 loss
capped off a full season of playing
time for then-junior midfielder Marc
Ybarra, who quickly pivoted towards

the next race for a national and
Big Ten title — a mountaintop he’s
strived to reach since claiming it his
freshman year.
Ybarra started in midfield for all
of the Wolverines’ 22 matches and
never left the field, the only Michigan
player to do so — a testament
to his consistency. This statistic
encompasses
Ybarra’s
character:

A workhorse midfielder, a devoted
teammate and a player who is always
looking to improve, no matter how
many miles are on his cleats.
Growing up as a hometown kid in
Ann Arbor, Ybarra — the youngest
of four siblings — drew inspiration
from his older siblings on the soccer
field.
“I look up to my brother, Matt
Ybarra, who played at Detroit Mercy
from 2011-2014,” Ybarra said. “We
both play similar positions and he
was a captain. He played all the time,
and I looked up to his work ethic.”
Marc credited the growth of his
game to not just Matt, but all three of
his siblings.
“It extends even more than my
brother. I’m the youngest in my
family, and all three of my siblings
played soccer growing up,” Ybarra
said. “I had those mentors, and the
support of older people than myself.”
“I’m always supporting attackers
and
supporting
defenders.
For
me, consistency is always being
there. Showing up and being there

everyday.”
There are two factors that allowed
Ybarra to stay on the pitch all
season: good health and trust from
the coaching staff. Michigan coach
Chaka Daley could always count on
Ybarra to be healthy and impact the
starting 11.
Ybarra’s consistency doesn’t end
after the final whistle is blown. Even
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
Ybarra
is
helping
his
fellow
midfielders, defenders, attackers and
future teammates.
“This team is the first time I have
had to embrace that role. Now going
into my senior year, I’m reaching
out to incoming freshmen,” Ybarra
said. “It’s been a different role, but
it’s good to be confident that when I
leave after next year, the other guys
that I am having conversations with
will fill the same role I had.”
The stay-at-home orders have
struck uncertainty in how Michigan
will prepare for the upcoming season.
Even without spring matches and
in-person practices, Ybarra and the

rest of the upperclassmen stayed true
to their leadership. Communication
plays a key part in Ybarra’s game,
both on and off the field — Ybarra
is a U-M Leadership, Excellence,
Achievement, and Diversity (LEAD)
Scholar. In order for the team to
develop as much as possible at a
distance from one another, Ybarra’s
mentorship to the underclassmen
and new recruits is essential for
success next season.
“We have had a couple calls with
the whole team,” Ybarra said.“I
think the older guys have taken it
upon themselves to reach out to a
couple specified players, especially
the incoming guys. We’ve been
reassuring that they can reach out
with anything they need. More of
delegating between a couple guys
each making sure we’re all in touch
and ready to go in the fall, hopefully.”
After
playing
nearly
2,000
minutes in 2019, Ybarra’s mind does
not want to keep count. He is solely
focused on the most important team
goal: winning.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Editor

LIOR KOLTON
Daily Sports Writer

FILE PHOTO/Daily
Red Berenson named adviser to Kevin Warren.

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Rising senior Marc Ybarra playing in last season’s NCAA tournament.