Jason Lammers has been named an assistant coach for the Ohio State men’s hockey team, effective Aug. 1, head coach John Markell announced Monday. Lammers spent last season as the head coach at SUNY Geneseo, his alma mater, where he led the Knights to the NCAA Division III tournament.
“We’re tremendously excited to add a coach to our staff with Jason’s experience, not only at the assistant coaching position, but also with the experience of being a Division III head coach,” Markell said. “His past experiences working with student-athletes will help him in the transition to our program. We’re anxious to get him acclimated to campus and the Columbus area.”
“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with the coaching staff and players at Ohio State,” Lammers, a native of Bradford Woods, Pa., near Pittsburgh, said. “Ohio State has grown into one of the premier hockey programs in the NCAA because it offers student-athletes, and more specifically hockey players, an opportunity to reach their goals as both a student and an athlete. I look forward to working with Coach Markell and Coach (Casey) Jones throughout the challenging CCHA conference schedule and look forward to the opportunity to work with some excellent student-athletes.”
Lammers is the second consecutive head coach at Geneseo to depart for the D-I assistant ranks. Previous coach Brian Hills left for RIT last July.
“We are sorry to see Jason leave after his success last season, but wish him luck as he continues his career at Ohio State,” said Marilyn Moore, director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation at Geneseo.
In 2005-06, Lammers led Geneseo to a 19-9-2 ledger, the SUNYAC tournament title and to the NCAA Division III tournament. The squad, which was 10-4 in league play and finished one point out of first place, ended the year ranked sixth nationally.
Prior to taking over the helm of the Geneseo program, Lammers served as an assistant coach at a number of schools. He began his coaching career as the volunteer assistant at Clarkson in 2000-01, before serving as the top assistant at Hobart the following year and returning to Clarkson for the 2002-03 campaign. Lammers spent two years as an assistant coach for Guy Gadowsky, coaching at Alaska in the Central Collegiate Hockey League in 2003-04 and at Princeton in 2004-05.
Lammers, who earned his degree in history from SUNY Geneseo in 1998, was a four-year letterwinner for the Knights as a defenseman, serving as team co-captain in 1996 and ’97 and as team captain as a senior in 1998. He earned SUNYAC second-team all-league honors in 1998. He won team best defenseman and the team’s players’ player honors in 1998.
Following his collegiate career, Lammers played professionally in the West Coast Hockey League for the Idaho Steelheads and the Phoenix Mustangs, winning the Taylor Cup championship with the Mustangs in 2000.
Lammers replaces Steve Brent, who left Ohio State for a job opportunity outside hockey. A search for Lammers’ replacement will begin immediately.
