Minnesota State Pays Up to Keep Mike Hastings

When the head coaching job at Nebraska Omaha became vacant two weeks ago, speculation naturally turned towards Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings to fill the job of replacing Dean Blais.

Hastings has a long history in the city of Omaha, serving as head coach and general manager of the Omaha/River City Lancers from 1994-2008, where he became the USHL’s all-time winningest coach(a mark since surpassed by Waterloo’s PK O’Handley). He also served as associate head coach under Dean Blais at UNO for three seasons before being hired as the head coach at Minnesota State.

But today, Minnesota State announced via press release that they are in the process of re-negotiating Hastings’ contract with a new 10-year deal that would keep him at the school through at least the summer of 2028.

Along with the increase in contract length, the two sides are still negotiating an increase in pay for Hastings, as well as an increase in program funding that would go towards cost of attendance scholarships, staffing, and travel and recruiting budgets.

In the schools press release, Hastings that he had informal with another institution last week(read: Omaha), but has since said that he is no longer interested in pursuing that job.

In the press release, Hastings said:

"There has been some outside interest which is flattering, but at the end of the day, my heart is in Mankato. The University and this community have been very good to me and my family and I believe it's important for everyone to know that I am entirely focused on developing our current players and our incoming recruiting class for the challenges that lie ahead next season. I truly appreciate the commitment the University has made to me and the future well-being of Maverick hockey. My intention is to make good on that return of investment and to reward my administration's vote of confidence in what we are doing as a program."