From The Eagle-Tribune
By David Willis
In a matter of weeks, North Andover native Jack Hyman will leave his home in Los Angeles, uproot his life, and move roughly 1,000 miles up the West Coast to Oregon, a step in the pursuit his dream since childhood.
Coaching college hockey.
The ex-North Andover High (Class of 2010) Eagle-Tribune Hockey All-Star is preparing for his first season as head coach of the University of Oregon men’s hockey team, which plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 1. He was announced as Ducks’ head coach last week.
“I’m incredibly excited,” said Hyman. “I’m counting down the days until I get up there in August and start training camp in September. I’ve been talking to the kids and learning about the team. I love to coach hockey. Oregon takes hockey very seriously, and I’ll be talking hockey and working with hockey players every day. There’s nothing better.
“My goal is to work toward building Oregon into an NCAA program. There’s a lot of work involved in that, and a lot of money. But Oregon is a big name in athletics — especially in football — and Nike headquarters is right there (Beaverton, Ore.) Who knows what’s possible? Hockey is really growing on the west coast. I told Oregon in my interviews that was my goal.”
The 31-year-old Hyman arrives at Oregon after a successful run as head coach at his alma mater, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He led the Lions to a 62-25-7 record in four seasons (2019-23) in Division 2 of the ACHA, which is a level behind the NCAA.
“It’s hard to leave LA,” said Hyman, who will be moving to Oregon with his girlfriend, whom he met at LMU. “I’ve been in LA since I started college, and I have a lot of friends here and a lot of great memories. But I try to look at it as exciting. Nobody likes moving, but I wouldn’t be making the move unless I thought the opportunity was worth it. and I believe Oregon is worth it.”
FROM NORTH ANDOVER TO LOS ANGELES
It was hockey that drew Hyman across the country to California after a standout career at North Andover High (42 goals in in his final two seasons) and a post-grad year at Proctor Academy.
“I had a good season at Proctor despite some injuries,” he said. “But after that, there just weren’t too many NCAA hockey opportunities, which was unfortunate. As luck would have it, a friend of mine, Michael Indigaro, was already at Loyola Marymount. He started telling me how great the hockey was, that there was a great locker room and a lot of fans. It was a stroke of luck.”
Hyman played four season playing for LMU. He scored 73 goals, is third in program history in points (138) and holds the record for games played (103). He was a two-year captain and was selected to the program’s Hall of Fame.
After a stint coaching youth hockey, Hyman returned to LMU as an assistant in 2016, and became head coach in 2019.
“It was fun and competitive hockey,” he said. “I had been wanting to coach since I was a youth hockey player. Coaching is the closest I can get to being on the ice as a player. I learning about running drills and practices and talking in front of people coaching youth, then the transition to coaching at LMU was very smooth.”
STEPPING UP TO OREGON
Another stroke of luck led Hyman to his new job at Oregon.
“I saw on the ACHA website that Oregon was looking for a coach,” he said. “The post said their head coach and general manager was stepping down. I saw it as an opportunity to move up from Division 2 at LMU to Division 1 at a big-time athletic school like Oregon. I messaged them, then didn’t hear back for a few weeks. After three rounds of interviews I got the job.”
Hyman will serve as both head coach and general manager for Oregon, after just coaching at LMU.
“As GM, I’m going to be responsible for more off-ice stuff. More recruiting, setting the schedule, marketing the team and promoting the team. I’ll work with sponsors, raise money for the team and help the guys raise money, because we’re not school-sponsored.
“This is something I want to do. It made Oregon more appealing. My main goal is to coach for an NCAA hockey team, and a big part of the job for an NCAA assistant is recruiting. This is a good job to build on that. It’s more work, but more exciting. Anything I can do to be move involved in the hockey community and become a better head coach is what I want to do.”
(Originally published at https://www.eagletribune.com/sports/former-north-andover-star-hymans-coaching-career-takes-him-to-university-or-oregon/article_3b6d6c12-2073-11ee-9d39-a360be9d06a8.html)
