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Longtime University of Michigan head coach Red Berenson will step down from the post.
Michigan and Berenson announced Monday (April 10, 2017) that he will retire after 33 seasons behind the bench. He will remain with the University as a special adviser to Michigan AD Warde Manuel.
"I've thought about this for a long time and I think this is the right time and it's the right thing to do for the Michigan hockey program," said Berenson in a statement released by the University of Michigan. "My heart will always be at Michigan and I look forward to the team taking the next step and making me proud as a former coach."
Berenson coached the Wolverines since 1984, going 848-426-92 in that time. Prior to that he was a player at Michigan before going on to a NHL career as both a player and head coach. As a Wolverine senior captain his 43 goals and nine hat tricks remain Michigan records.
During his tenure Berenson won two national championships with Michigan in 1996 and 1998 and 11 Frozen Fours. His teams made the NCAA Tournament 22 straight times, a streak that ended in 2013. Since then the Wolverines have only gotten back once in five seasons - in 2015-16 when Michigan won the Big Ten conference tournament.
Berenson was named the 2016 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He won the 2008 Spencer Penrose Award as the top NCAA coach and twice (1994, 2008) named the CCHA Head Coach of the Year.
Michigan went 13-19-3 in 2016-17 en route to a fifth place finish in the Big Ten. Berenson said after the Wolverines’ season ended in the first round of the Big Ten tournament that he would meet with Manuel and decide his future after the Frozen Four, which ended Saturday.