Michigan interim head coach Brandon Naurato is a teacher by nature, and that teaching approach to coaching is already bearing fruit for a Michigan team with a 12-member rookie class.
“I feel like I’m so blessed to have really good people from the freshmen to the other kids around that they want to be the best versions of themselves,” said Naurato.
Through eight games, the Wolverines are 7-1-1 and have outscored opponents 42-22. Michigan leads the nation in offense, averaging 5.25 goals per game with freshmen doing 45 percent of the goal scoring.
Rookie Adam Fantilli leads all scorers nationally in points per game (1.88) and is third in the nation for total goals (eight). Both Fantilli and classmate Rutger McGroarty have registered their first collegiate hat tricks. McGroarty notched his first three goals of the season in Michigan’s 6-5 overtime road win against Western Michigan, all three goals scored on the power play. Rookie defenseman Seamus Casey had the first assist on all three of McGroarty’s goals.
McGroarty credits the entire University of Michigan, the coaching staff, the athletic department’s support staff, and fifth-year forward and captain Nolan Moyle for creating an environment that helps this year’s freshmen feel welcomed and supported.
“It’s unbelievable,” said McGroarty. “Playing high-end hockey is something we came here to do, and I love every second of it.”
McGroarty said that he and his classmates are as supportive of each other as they are competitive, a mindset that permeates this Michigan team. “We come to the rink every single day with an attack mentality, and we just want to keep getting better and better.”
“Going into every weekend, we’re looking for a sweep. I think that anything less than a sweep is not good enough.”
Because of their record – and their ways to find wins in the two high-scoring, back-and-forth games against Western last weekend – the Wolverines became the new No. 1 team in the DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. Naurato said that he’s especially grateful that he works with players who don’t want to be lulled into becoming too comfortable.
“We had a conversation about being No. 1 in the country, and it means nothing,” said Naurato. “You want to be No. 1 in the country at the end of the year. Now with that said, they should be proud of themselves for what they’ve done to date, but I [told them what] the record is when Michigan first becomes No. 1 and it’s well below .500. You’ve got a bigger target on your back and let’s not get complacent.
“We keep this learning environment so when you’re not having success, it’s not about coaches yelling and screaming and you’ve got to work harder. it’s about teaching – and winning’s about teaching, too.”
Naurato developed his coaching style by developing other players. After his own four years as a forward at Michigan, Naurato played another four in minor league hockey before moving to player development. From 2012 to 2020, he worked with USA Hockey as director of player development. From 2018 to 2021, he also worked with the Detroit Red Wings as a player development consultant.
After having served as assistant coach for a year under Mel Pearson in 2021-22, Naurato was tabbed in August to shepherd the Wolverines through their first year of the post-Pearson era. Pearson was let go from Michigan in August of this year following the release of a report by WilmerHale, a Washington, D.C. law firm hired by the University of Michigan to investigate allegations that former Michigan goaltender and volunteer coach Steve Shields had been fired in retaliation for bringing Pearson’s alleged abuses to the attention of the school.
The WilmerHale report did not find that Shields was let go for being a whistleblower, but it did bring up concerns about Pearson’s conduct, including allegations that he pressured hockey players to lie about COVID-19 testing, contributed to a toxic environment for women employees and forced goaltender and team captain Strauss Mann to leave the program when Mann went to Pearson with concerns regarding team culture. In part, the report stated, “Our investigation did identify cultural issues within the hockey program that warrant attention.”
Red Berenson was the head coach when Naurato played for Michigan, but Pearson was the associate head coach under Berenson as well. Naurato sounds sincere when he walks a diplomatic line talking about what he, associate head coach Bill Muckalt and assistant coach Rob Rassey are doing to change the culture of Michigan hockey.
“I see a lot of things in the media and it’s hard to talk about what I plan to do because personally, I don’t feel like we as a staff have proved anything and I don’t want to talk out of turn,” said Naurato. “I’m trying to be respectful. But we really want to create a learning environment.
“We talk to the kids about being vulnerable with each other, and even us owning things at different times. It’s just so important as a coach to earn respect. Do I need the players to like me? Yeah, I think they need to like me. When they like and respect you, they listen. There may be guys that don’t like certain things at times, but if they respect you, I think it holds weight because they know you have their best interests in mind.
“The old school mentality’s gone. You still need to be firm, but they need to know you care.”
Naurato said that pressure on players can come from agents, parents, and coaches while they’re “trying to figure it out,” creating an environment that may make learning difficult.
“They’re kids,” said Naurato. “There’s things that they just don’t know. We can’t get upset with them. Can you imagine getting upset with a kid for not knowing how to ride a bike?”
The teaching-centered approach paid off in tangible ways against the Broncos. While the Wolverines surrendered nine goals in the series, they found a way to score 11 and sweep a very good Western Michigan team. The freshmen were “point-a-game players” heading into that series, said Naurato, “and I think I met with almost all of them, and they want more.”
Eight of Michigan’s goals against Western were scored by freshmen, and the rookies registered six assists, including Jackson Hallum’s helper on Nolan Moyle’s game winner in Friday’s 5-4 home game.
Naurto said that the freshmen are all “students of the game” and that they all “want to be the best versions of themselves.”
“It’s very rewarding as a coach to work with guys that are chasing success and want to be better,” said Naurato. “I’m just trying to be honest with them, show them where they’re at, pat them on the back.
“Everything’s teaching. Everything’s a learning environment, and they’re embracing it.”
The Wolverines open Big Ten conference play this weekend when they play undefeated Penn State on the road in a two-game set.
