John Micheletto was always interested in becoming a teacher.
He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1990 with a degree in English modified in education, and took that degree with him to Pottstown, Pa., where he served as an English teacher and dean of students at The Hill School for five years.
While he enjoyed his stay there, it was in that time he realized his favorite form of teaching did not involve essays or reading Shakespeare, but the game he was always passionate about: hockey.
Micheletto coached hockey at The Hill School along with his teaching duties, but left in 1996 after completing his master coaching certification and took a job as an assistant coach at Union College.
Sixteen years later, Micheletto begins his first head-coaching job at the collegiate level for the Massachusetts hockey team, the 13th coach in the history of the program.
“It’s exciting to say the least,” Micheletto said. “I think that word can certainly be overused, but obviously it’s exciting when you work very hard to do the best that you can in every stop along the way when you’re in this profession.”
While Micheletto’s profession may technically be different than the one he had in the classroom at Hill, he sees no difference in the job description.
“Coaching really isn’t anything but (teaching) when you get to the heart of it,” Micheletto said. “You’re teaching hockey to guys.
“I enjoyed doing both, but at one point in time it came clear to me that I wanted to devote a little more of my efforts to the coaching part of it, stay involved with the sport that I love,” he added.
The 46-year-old Chicago native comes to UMass after nine seasons with fellow Hockey East Assocation-rival, Vermont. He was the recruiting coordinator for the Catamounts and an assistant coach to Kevin Sneddon, a longtime friend of Micheletto’s who brought him in as one of his first assistants upon taking the head-coaching job at Vermont.
Micheletto knew he wanted to be a head coach someday. So when the coaching position at UMass opened up in June when 12-year coach Don ‘Toot’ Cahoon stepped down, Micheletto didn’t hesitate to jump on the opportunity.
“You have no idea when a job’s going to become available,” Micheletto said. “And for one reason or another this certainly looked like a great opportunity at the time, and I was eager to put my stuff in and try to be a candidate.”
Micheletto sent in his application to UMass and met with Director of Athletics John McCutcheon and Associate Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca for an interview. Shortly thereafter, Micheletto got the call he was waiting for and “it didn’t take very long for me to say ‘yes’ at that point.”
While Micheletto considers himself a teacher, he hopes to use what he learned from Sneddon – who led Vermont to the 2009 Frozen Four with Micheletto as his assistant – to help “set the culture” for the Minutemen.
“It’s important for any coach coming into a new program to set that culture from day one,” Micheletto said. “So having gone through that with Kevin (Sneddon) at Vermont, it’s certainly valuable experience for me, something that I’m certainly doing now at UMass.”
In his nine years with the Catamounts, 12 of his recruits were drafted to the NHL, including Viktor Stalberg of the Chicago Blackhawks, whom Micheletto traveled to Stockholm, to see play and eventually recruit.
While the recruiting process is one that includes unpredictable schedules and plenty of traveling, Micheletto sees it as simply part of building a successful program.
“First and foremost you’ve got to be on the road, and you’ve got to be visible,” Micheletto said. “You’ve got to let people know you’re in the building.”
Micheletto has also learned the importance of making recruits feel comfortable and building relationships with them.
“(Developing relationships) is what the whole recruiting process is, making sure players understand what UMass has to offer and how’s it’s going to benefit them over the course of their four years,” Micheletto said. “In order to deliver that message you have to develop a relationship with the players and with their families.
“It’s not only a four-year commitment, it’s a 40- or 50-year commitment to the University,” Micheletto continued. “It’s a relationship they’re going to have the strongest ties with over the course of their adult life.”
Something Micheletto physically took with him to Amherst from Vermont was assistant Joey Gasparini, a former Catamount player and assistant, who now joins Micheletto and nine-year assistant coach Len Quesnelle, who Micheletto inherited from the Cahoon regime.
Other than that, all Micheletto has from his time with Vermont is memories, and none stand out to him more than the trip to the Frozen Four, secured by a 3-2 win over Air Force in double overtime in the regional final.
“You don’t get to very many Frozen Fours. I’ve only been to one,” Micheletto said. “That experience was certainly one that I’ll remember. That regional game that went into double overtime, the way in which we won that game, will always be remembered.
“Much like any stop along the way that I’ll look back on, I’m proud of the work I did at Vermont and really excited for the successes that we had there,” he added.
Micheletto certainly has a challenge ahead of him with the Minutemen. He takes over a team that’s had a losing season in four of the past five years, including a 13-18-5 mark last season and a first-round exit as a No. 8 seed in the Hockey East tournament.
Micheletto has been impressed with what he’s seen thus far.
“My initial impression is that I’ve been really impressed with our guy’s ability to pick up (the new system),” Micheletto said. “I guess you could call that coachability.”
Micheletto also noted the differences between himself and Cahoon, but is encouraged with the way the team has adjusted to the coaching change.
“I’m certainly a different personality than Toot,” Micheletto said. “It’s going to be different for the guys no matter who comes in here, but they’ve adjusted very well to what the message has been and the pace at which we’ve practiced.”
What Micheletto has been most impressed with is his team’s work ethic and its ability to learn new things, which makes him optimistic of UMass’ capabilities under his watch.
Micheletto’s system involves a fast, up-tempo style of play that involves players going at full speed on both ends of the ice. He hopes to create offensive opportunities by forcing turnovers on the defensive end, calling for both the forwards and defensemen to be more physical and aggressive.
The Minutemen have been more than welcoming to what Micheletto has brought to the table so far, and have especially enjoyed the pace at which he runs practices.
“Right now, he’s awesome,” junior forward Conor Sheary said. “We couldn’t ask for anything more. A younger guy, younger than ‘Toot’ was obviously, and he just brings a lot of energy and of a lot of new systems to play with.
“He really lets us play out there, and for a player that’s awesome not to be too systematic,” Sheary added.
While the offseason was tough on the players, the decision to bring in Micheletto is one they have all embraced.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride,” junior forward Michael Pereira said. “But, you know, it’s all behind us now, it’s all in the past. (Micheletto brings) a different style of play, more of an up-tempo, quick transition type of mentality that I think is definitely going to pay dividends for the whole season.”
While the hockey adjustment has been smooth for both parties, Micheletto said the only challenge he’s faced is moving his family out to Amherst and getting settled in to his new home.
“I think it’s been, from a work, a hockey and a team standpoint, pretty smooth,” he said. “You find that the biggest thing is trying to get your personal life settled in, in terms of buying and selling homes and settling in with your family.”
The transition to a new job and a new home can be a learning experience, even for a teacher, and Micheletto sees himself as no exception to the rule.
“Some of the difficult things in changing jobs is just learning the landscape of how things operate,” he said. “The way in which people do business, that’s different everywhere.”
And as he learns how things work, it leaves Micheletto more time to focus on his job: teaching.
Nick Canelas can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @NickCanelas.
