Michigan State University Athletics
Rick Comley Press Conference Transcript
3/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 25, 2002
DR. CLARENCE UNDERWOOD
"I entrusted Ron Mason to conduct the search for his successor. Ron did all of the legwork and I fully support his recommendation. I'm very proud to introduce Rick Comley, the previous head coach at Northern Michigan University. He is only the fifth coach in the history of this university. We are very pleased to welcome Rick and his family to join the Spartan family."
RICK COMLEY
"We're very excited to be here. It's a great thrill for us. I wondered for a long time would I ever stand up here and talk about what its like to coach out of Michigan State. I've been at Northern Michigan a long time. I think we were getting to the point where you wondered if you would ever leave. It had to be a very good reason to leave. This is the reason.
"My life has been intermingled with Ron's for a long time. Not only did we grow up in the same part of (Canada), but took a different path to end up in the same place. We've had some very interesting discussions over the years right from me deciding to be a college hockey player to going to Lake Superior, to not going to Lake Superior and going to the Detroit Red Wings, to leaving Detroit when I saw a friendly face leaning over the glass and wanting to go to lunch and convincing me that going to Lake Superior was a lot better than going to Fort Worth or Pittsburgh. Then as he left Lake Superior and went to Bowling Green, I remember sitting at Nemo's in the Renaissance Center when Ron was considering taking the Michigan State job. That evolved into discussion whether he should leave the hockey coach and become athletic director.
"It's a proud moment for me to replace him here and to have his presence around the hockey program and the university. Everybody wonders what it's like to replace somebody who has done what Ron has done. It couldn't be a better situation. What more could you ever want than the person who took this program to where it is today, who is now going to be your boss and replace Clarence, for you to be able to learn firsthand the ins and the outs of this program, what it takes to be successful here. Make no mistake, even though we compete in the same league, there is no comparison between Michigan State and Northern Michigan. To have him here and to be able to call on him as a friend and to go back on that is a tremendous benefit for me. It doesn't bother me one bit to have him there. I hope, obviously, that he'll be very involved.
"We tried to talk about what it will be like to go from a coach to an athletics director. I did that for 13 years. He might be going through the high moments of it right now. He's going to go through the whole range of things that go on in that position. We're very excited to be here. It's a difficult move from the standpoint that change is always tough. It's a very exciting move, because I think this re-energizes you and what you are doing and the challenges that you face - the goals remain the same, the opportunity is tremendous and we can hardly wait to get going.
"It was really ironic for me to play Michigan State in Joe Louis knowing that potentially that was the last game. The game before ours went into overtime when we were sitting donw the hallway in Joe Louis. Many of the State players were around, the looks we were exchanging back and forth. The conversations that you almost wanted to have but you couldn't have. We lost a tough hockey game to them and shook hands after and some of the comments that went back and forth to the players were kind of interesting to me. I appreciate the opportunity. I thank Clarence. I thank Ron, and everybody that has been involved in this. It's a dream come true for me and my family. We're as excited as we possibly can be.
"We talked about Ron's transition from coach to administration and the role I might play in that. We started talking - maybe two years ago- what might end up down the road. The hockey part of it really started to heat up about three or four weeks ago. That's when Ron made this decision to go in this direction."
About succeeding Coach Mason for the second time...
"When I came in to become the head coach at Lake Superior, I think I was 26 years old and had no idea. I think I had an ulcer by November of that year. The goals are high and they should be high. I think every college coach has the same goals and the same aspirations and that's to be the best that you can be and win a national championship. I think the expectation here is greater and it should be."
On coaching similarities...
"I think we're very similar. I think when you recruit someone - as he did me - there are things that you look for in an athlete. There's a style that you want. I think we're both highly competitive. If you had seen Ron in those earlier days, he was a better player than we all were. I think he carries that fire today and he's going to bring to the athletic department that unrelenting desire to be the best and do things the right way, so I think there's the great deal of similarities.
I had a chance these last couple of hockey games to watch Michigan State play and really analyze them. When you are playing against them you don't really get to do that. I think you take the best of what's here and then you try to add what you think you need. No two coaches do things completely the same."
On helping Ron make his transition...
"I think our relationship is so good that we will have many conversations. The administrative responsibilities at a school like Michigan State are far greater than at Northern Michigan, but some of the issues are the same. If I certainly can provide any experience in conversation to that, I certainly will."
On his coaching staff...
"I think you have two assistant coaches (Tom Newton and David McAuliffe) who are qualified to be head coaches. There are other jobs open around the country, and I am sure they will be candidates for those. This first year for everybody is going to be a feeling-out process. It's not that we don't know each other. We've all grown up in the hockey family and know each other very well. If they end up staying here for this year, I would be very happy with that. I think we'll make a very solid staff."
Assessment of Spartan hockey team...
"I think they're disappointed and they won 27 hockey games. I think that is the standard that is set. The last loss happened in the worst possible location it could happen, knowing the rivalry that is there. There is outstanding returning talent. What's really different about coming from Northern Michigan to Michigan State isn't always in wins or losses or how much you win or lose by, it's the talent that you are dealing with. In Northern Michigan you recruit kids and you have them for four years. Here, you're always fighting issues of how long you keep your kids, are they going to play pro hockey. I like the returning talent very much. Obviously, there are question marks on a few of them whether they are going to be here or not. Time will decide that. The talent pool for Michigan State is wide open. I relish the opportunity to sell an institution like Michigan State and compete for the best kids in North America."
About playing MSU in his last game behind Northern Michigan's bench...
"I was really torn. I had not really sat down with my own team. I couldn't really present to them what the options were. I wanted to handle it very professionally. I wanted to beat Michigan State very badly and to move on. I think it was handled fine. It was just interesting to watch the reactions. Once the game started, that part of it was gone. There were those thoughts leading up to it and those thoughts following. We've had some great battles with Michigan State over the last several years."
About talking with the Spartan team for the first time...
"You think how to say what you want to say and the first words out of your mouth and the impression they are going to form of you. When Ron announced his change in venue, I think that was unsettling to them. I think any athlete worries about who is coming in and how they are going to be impacted by the new person. It's not that they don't know me, because we've had our battles over the years and hockey players know hockey players. I'm sure there are some conversations already and there will be more later. I think in the next several weeks here, I'll get a chance to do one-on-ones with all the players so I can begin to learn about them as people and they can learn more about me. I'm not one to prepare an awful lot as far as talking, I think you speak from the heart and that's what comes across.
The trademark of a Comley-coached team...
"If you talk to other coaches, they talk about hard work. We didn't always have the talent comparable to everybody else. We always had four or five excellent players and we always had to make kids tremendous juniors or seniors. The one thing I will try to do here - I will not say Ron did not try to do it - is try to pick up the tempo a little bit, be a little bit more offensive and not sacrifice the defensive part of the game. The hardest thing in today's game is scoring. I like up-tempo hockey and that's what we'll try to do."
RON MASON
"I know Rick real well, but more importantly, I respect him as a coach. And to me, he's the best fit for this position and will do an excellent job both with his players on the ice and off the ice. He has tremendous credentials as you can see, and yet, I think his personality and the way he does things is what's so critical for this position."
About being Comley being the top candidate from day one...
"No question, he was. When I did take the athletics director position, I had talked to him about possibly coming down here and joining me in some role within the department. As time went along, of course, we discussed the hockey coaching position as well. Had I a carte blanche to hire somebody across the country, Rick would have been No. 1."
About the coaching change...
"I am excited about (the new hockey coach), but I am still sick about the way the season ended. I watch these games being played and I think we should be in them. That will be frustrating until the tournament is over with. That's no different than any other year. The fact that there is a new coach here, I'm very excited about that. Some programs can become a little stale in some areas, and when you bring a new coach in all of a sudden you've got an injection of enthusiasm and a different way to approach things and sometimes I think that's really good."
About beating Northern Michigan in what was Comley's last game with the Wildcats...
"I was darn glad that we won. We wanted to advance and continue to win. That's all I was thinking about. I had no animosity. I didn't have any thoughts really about Rick and myself."
About their relationship...
"It is pretty unique when you think about it. I watched him play junior hockey and I just liked his intelligence and the way he handled himself. He was a great recruit at that time at Lake Superior State - to have somebody who was as intelligent as he was with great grades and to be that good of a player. We've always been close friends, whether it's through hockey schools in the summer or talking to each other throughout the years. He's been a good confidant.
