Birthdate - January 20, 1947
Family - wife Diane, children Gillian and Rick Jr.
Collegiate Playing Experience - A four-year letterwinner (1967-71) at Lake Superior State. Two-time NAIA All-American and served as team captain as senior in 1971. Voted team's most valuable player and won Lake Superior State's Outstanding Athlete Award in 1971.
Collegiate Coaching Experience - Assistant Coach, Lake Superior State, 1972-73; Head Coach, Lake Superior State, 1973-76; Head Coach, Northern Michigan, 1976-2002; Head Coach, Michigan State, 2002-present
Coaching Honors and Awards - Spencer Penrose Memorial Trophy (1980, 1991); CCHA Coach of the Year (1980, 1981); WCHA Coach of the Year (1989, 1991); NAIA National Championship in 1974 (LSSU); NCAA titles in 1991 (NMU) and 2007 (MSU)
Overview - As one of just two head coaches to win NCAA titles at two different institutions (NMU and MSU), a part of three National Championship teams, and ranked among the top four coaches all-time in collegiate victories, Rick Comley has cemented his place among college hockey's most accomplished mentors.
The Stratford, Ontario, native guided Northern Michigan to Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championships and league postseason titles in 1980 and 1981. Comley also piloted the Wildcats to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season crown in 1991 and WCHA playoff championships in 1989, 1991 and 1992. He is one of three individuals to have coached regular-season champions in the WCHA and CCHA.
In 2006-07, his fifth season as the Michigan State head coach, Comley returned the Spartans to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2001 and guided MSU to its third NCAA title in school history. The Spartans, who finished fourth in the regular-season CCHA standings and third in the CCHA Tournament, were a bit of an underdog at the 2007 Frozen Four, but sticking to Comley's mantra, "Just play our game," the team rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Maine in the semifinals (4-2) before taking on Boston College in the title game. Trailing 1-0 entering the third period, the resilient MSU squad scored midway through the final frame and got the game-winner with just 18.9 seconds remaining in regulation before adding an empty-net tally to post a dramatic, 3-1 victory.
MSU's win over Clarkson on November 9, 2009, was Rick Comley's 750th career win... 750-583-100 overall, and 153-108-29 at Michigan State. He is one of only four coaches to reach 750 career victories, following Ron Mason (retired), Jerry York (Boston College coach) and Jack Parker (Boston University coach). Congratulations Coach Comley!
Education - Bachelor's degree in political science from Lake Superior State (1972); master's degree in education from Northern Michigan (1973). Honor student as undergraduate at Lake Superior, receiving 1971 Kiwanis Scholastic Award in School of Liberal Arts. Inducted into LSSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and Northern Michigan's in 1998.
Comley arrived at Michigan State after spending 26 years (1976-2002) as the head coach at Northern Michigan University. The first head coach in NMU hockey history, he compiled a 538-429-68 (.533) mark behind the Wildcat bench to become one of just 12 coaches to win 450 games at one school and one of 10 to post 500 victories at the same institution. Comley is also one of eight coaches in college hockey history to own more than 550 career wins.