Mike Towns - Men's Ice Hockey Coach - Michigan State University Athletics

Mike Towns

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
miketowns@ath.msu.edu
Phone:
355-1639

Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Management from Adrian (2011)
   Masters in Business Administration, American International, (2016)

Collegiate Playing Experience:
Adrian (2007-11); NCAA Division III Frozen Four Runner-Up (2011)

Previous Coaching Experience:
Assistant Coach, Clarkson (2019-22)
Associate Head Coach, AIC, 2018-19
Assistant Coach, AIC, 2014-18

Mike Towns joined the Spartan hockey program as a part of Adam Nightingale’s first staff in the summer of 2022. In the two seasons this group has guided the Spartans, Towns has helped rapidly change the trajectory of MSU’s success on the ice, and has played a large role in recruiting high-end talent to come to East Lansing.

In addition to his recruiting prowess that helped bring a top-five recruiting class to MSU for the 2023-24 season, Towns is the architect of the MSU power play, which finished the season fifth in the country (second in the Big Ten) with a .271 success rate in 2023-24, an improvement of more than 70 points from the 2022-23 campaign. MSU’s offense over the two seasons has nearly doubled as well: from 76 goals in 2021-22 to 107 in the staff’s first year, and 147 scores in 2023-24 as the Spartans earned both the regular-season and tournament titles in the Big Ten.

Towns came to Michigan State after three years as an assistant coach at Clarkson University, where he helped guide his charges to three top-three finishes in the ECAC and an overall record of 55-25-13 in those seasons (.672). He also was a part of an American International (AIC) staff that recruited the players who jump-started the program’s recent run of four straight regular-season and three consecutive tournament titles.

In 2021 he helped guide the Golden Knights to a 21-10-6 overall record, a third-place finish in the ECAC (14-4-4) and a spot in the ECAC Semifinals at season’s end. Clarkson was just outside the NCAA Tournament field, finishing with an NCAA Pairwise ranking of 16. The covid-impacted 2020-21 season yielded an 11-7-4 overall record, as only four schools in the ECAC had teams competing, and each played an abbreviated schedule.

In his first season with the Knights (2019-20), Clarkson skated to a 23-8-3 overall record and a second place 16-5-1 ECAC Hockey mark. The Knights were rated ninth in the final PWR before the COVID-19 pandemic forced an abrupt end to the college hockey season in early March.

Towns went to Clarkson after serving five years on the staff at American International College, including the 2018-19 campaign as the Yellow Jackets associate head coach. From his arrival at AIC in August 2014, Towns helped recruit and lay the groundwork for the most successful Yellow Jacket seasons in the program’s history.

Mike Towns

Elevated to AIC’s recruiting coordinator with the hiring of Head Coach Eric Lang in 2016-17, Towns was instrumental in recruiting efforts that helped build the Yellow Jackets program under Lang, attracting quality players to Springfield which has resulted in four consecutive Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships (2019-22). Towns helped recruit head coach Eric Lang’s first recruiting class for the 2016-2017 season, which was regarded as one of the best in the conference. The 2017-2018 season saw more impressive recruiting efforts. The team set program records for wins in a season (15) and was able to host and win its first Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament series. The Yellow Jackets continued improving and enjoyed unprecedented success in 2018-2019, once again setting a program record for victories (23), and winning both the Atlantic Hockey regular season and playoff championships. AIC excelled at the NCAA tournament as well, upsetting No. 1 St. Cloud State to advance to the West Regional Championship.

A native of Surrey, British Columbia, Towns spent four seasons in the BCHL playing with the Penticton Vees before attending Adrian College. At Adrian (2007-11), Towns was an alternate captain his first two seasons, and the team’s captain in his junior and senior years. During his senior season, Towns captained the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Division III Frozen Four.

Towns graduated from Adrian with a degree in Business Administration in Management, and completed his Masters of Business Administration at AIC in May 2016. Following his successful collegiate career, Towns embarked on a three-year professional career, making stops with the Denver Cutthroats of the CHL, the Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign in the ECHL.

Towns and his wife Dianna have two daughters, Avery and Ella.