Michigan Hires Brandon Naurato As Interim Head Coach

Michigan moved quickly to fill their vacant head coaching position after firing head coach Mel Pearson last Friday. The school announced on Sunday evening that assistant coach Brandon Naurato will lead the program as interim head coach for the 2022-2023 season.

Naurato, a former Michigan player, has been an assistant coach at Michigan for just one season, his first as a coach. But that limited experience at Michigan may have helped Naurato, as it meant he wasn’t around the program in the time period mentioned in the Mel Pearson Report.

Despite a limited resume, Naurato has developed a reputation as an up-and-coming young coach. After his playing career, he got his start in hockey working as a private skills development coach in the metro Detroit-area working with many future NHLers. That work earned him a job as a player development consultant in the Detroit Red Wings organization before he was hired by Michigan.

But whether Naurato will be able to translate his experience working with player skill development over to the more rigorous requirements of running an entire program will be the question. He’ll be given the year as a trial run to prove himself. It will likely be difficult for Naurato to recruit given the Wolverines have only committed to him for one year. But after the uncertainty of the end of the Mel Pearson era, Michigan is at least stabilized at the head coaching position with the regular season less than two months away.