Dane Jackson becomes UND's 17th head hockey coach

GRAND FORKS—On March 23rd, the University of North Dakota informed Brad Berry that he would no longer serve as the head hockey coach. This came as a surprise to many. Berry led North Dakota to its 8th national championship in his first year behind the bench for UND. In his tenure at UND, Berry never had a losing season.

Nonetheless, he was let go.

UND then expedited its search for a new head hockey coach. With many candidates, the finalists were eventually narrowed down to four. Jason Herter, Nick Fohr, Matt Smaby and Dane Jackson.

On March 29th, Dane Jackson was officially announced as the 17th head coach in UND history.

“It’s hard to put into words,” head coach Dane Jackson said when asked about his emotions on getting the job. “It is something so special to me. The connection I have to our guys and the university is huge.”

Jackson has been on the UND coaching staff for 19 years. He was a player at UND from 1988-92. After that, he would play professional hockey. Once he retired from pro hockey, he began coaching. Before that, he had experience coaching professional hockey.

In 2006, Dave Hakstol hired Jackson as an assistant coach. He has been part of the UND coaching staff for 19 years.

A new vision

Jackson has big plans for the UND hockey team. Winning national championships is his number one goal, but to do that, he knows that UND needs to get back to its roots.

“We're going to get guys that are UND guys, and are dying to bleed green,” Jackson said. 

"The UND administration, in choosing me, was choosing what our program stands for at its core. I’m going to connect our current players to the foundation, to the roots, and the guys who have come before us. 

“Our staff’s plan moving forward is clear. North Dakota has always been built differently. We've been built on men of character, toughness, grit—the kind of guys who rise up in big moments. That’s who our coaches have always picked, and we’re going to get back to that. We’ve done it before, and we’ll make sure it’s a core identity of ours again.”

Jackson also spoke about adding a general manager for UND hockey, which has never been done in college hockey history.

“As we build our staff, we know we need to modernize in today’s fast-changing college landscape. We’ve got to adapt,” Jackson said. “We’re going to hire someone as a GM/recruiting coach—someone dedicated to recruiting, roster management, and portal management. That said, we’re also going to make sure we get back to a sustainable model—recruiting and developing three- and four-year players who are truly tied to UND.”

Jackson also talked about getting the team to play a full 60-minute game and having the team be tough to play against. “I remember T.J. Oshie talking about their great teams in Washington,” Jackson said. “And he just said, you know, they had really good players, but they had a great system, and they really believed in it. 

"Even if they got down in a series or in games, they just had so much belief that they weren’t gonna start cheating for offense or doing things outside the system. They’d just say, ‘Hey, if we roll for 60 like this, we’re gonna give ourselves a great chance to win.’ "

What do the fans think?

UND fans are generally thrilled with this hire. Many donors supported Jackson, and previous UND hockey alums endorsed him. 

Many North Dakota hockey fans believe Jackson will get the program back on track and, most importantly, back to winning national championships.

Alex Bertier is a UND hockey fan who has followed the program for over 15 years. 

“I am super excited about Dane Jackson,” Bertier said. “I think he will bring a new coaching style representing North Dakota hockey. He will get the players to the best of their abilities in April.

Bertier was unhappy with UND’s lack of playoff success over the last few seasons. He thought the change was necessary. 

“Although I hated how the whole Berry situation was handled, I am optimistic for the future,” Bertier said. “We need to be better in the playoffs. National championship programs should be playing for national championships every year. Plain and simple.”

UND’s last national championship came in 2016. Since then, the Fighting Hawks have won one playoff game.

“We have had the right players,” Bertier said. “But the execution has lacked. That comes back to the coaching staff.”

Jackson will have little time to adjust next season. The bar is set high for the Fighting Hawks, and a new era of North Dakota hockey is on the horizon.

Jackson has three words to describe North Dakota hockey going forward:

Toughness - competitiveness - discipline