Brendan Whittet ’94 Introduced as New Men's Hockey Coach
PROVIDENCE, RI - East Providence native, Brendan Whittet, a 1994
graduate of Brown University, and an assistant coach at Dartmouth
for the past 11 years, has been named the head men's ice hockey
coach at Brown in an announcement made by Brown Director of
Athletics Michael Goldberger.
"I am absolutely delighted to have Brendan Whittet return to Brown
as our head coach," said Goldberger. "Brendan has a proven record
of accomplishment as an assistant coach and brings a strong passion
for Brown to our program. He had tremendous success as a player at
Brown and has the knowledge and skills to guide the team to the
same level of achievement that he experienced as a player. I know
that Brendan learned from one of the best coaches in the league in
Bob Gaudet at Brown and Dartmouth, and we are thrilled to welcome
him back to Brown."
A 14-year veteran of the college coaching ranks, Whittet has spent
the past 11 seasons as an assistant on the Dartmouth College staff,
helping to guide the Big Green to the 2006 ECAC Regular Season
Championship and the 2007 Ivy League Championship. During Whittet's
tenure on the Dartmouth staff, the Big Green have been perennially
ranked among the nation's elite, while posting seven straight
winning seasons (2000-2007) and 166 wins from 1998-2009.
"I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be the head hockey
coach at Brown University," said Whittet. "I would especially like
to thank Mike Goldberger, Bob Kenneally, and the search committee
for this wonderful opportunity. As a Brown alum and a Rhode Island
native, my family and I are ecstatic to be heading home. I loved my
time at Brown as a student-athlete and as an assistant coach and
have a true appreciation for the positive impact that the
University can play in one's life.
"One of my goals when I got into the coaching profession 15 years
ago was to position myself to ultimately return to Brown as its
head coach. That dream is now a reality. I am ready to attack the
job with tenacity, dedication, passion and positive energy to
return the Bears' hockey program to the top of both the ECAC and
the NCAA."
While at Dartmouth, Whittet was involved in many aspects of
running the program including recruiting, video analysis, off-ice
skill development, NCAA compliance issues, working primarily with
the Dartmouth defensemen, and overseeing the team's penalty-killing
unit.
Whittet has helped lead the program to a tremendous resurgence,
as the Big Green has been perennially ranked in the top-20 and has
posted four seasons with at least 18 wins, including two 20-win
seasons. Dartmouth has also appeared regularly in the ECAC
Tournament, making semi-final appearances in 2001, 2003, 2004,
2006, and 2007. Under Whittet's guidance, the defensive unit has
also seen a similar transformation, reaching a milestone during the
2004-05 season when the team recorded its lowest goals against
average in 44 years. Dartmouth allowed 2.37 goals per game that
placed the defensive unit among the elite teams nationally. A
similar trend can be seen in the penalty kill. The 2004-05 unit
finished with an 86.1 percent kill ratio that placed statistically
in the top 10 in the country.
Before his arrival at Dartmouth, Whittet's teams at Brown and
Colby both experienced success. In 1995, his first season coaching
the Bears, Brown won the Ivy League Title. In 1996-97 Colby
finished with a 19-6-1 record and captured the ECAC East Playoff
Championship. Whittet then returned to Brown for one more season,
helping to lead the Bears to a fourth place finish during the ECAC
Regular Season, after finishing in 12th the year before.
For the past 12 summers, Whittet has worked for the New England
District at various USA Hockey Select Summer Festivals, serving as
an assistant coach in the summer of 2008 for the US Under-17
National Select Team that competed in the 5 Nations Tournament,
held in Prievidza, Slovakia. Whittet has also been the head coach
for the New England Select-16 team that participated in the 2000
USA Festival that went undefeated in the tournament. Whittet also
serves as a member of the New England Select coaching staff that
works with elite New England players ranging in age from 13-18.
A former defenseman at Brown, Whittet was a four-year
letterwinner. He appeared in 74 games and helped lead the Bears to
an Ivy League title in 1992, two trips to the ECAC Final Four
Championship in 1993 and 1994, and an NCAA at-large tournament team
selection in 1993.
During Whittet's high school career he was a two-time Rhode Island
all-state and all-league selection at perennial powerhouse Mount
St. Charles. He was named the Rhode Island Defensive Player of the
Year in 1988-89. Whittet also played for Southern New England in
the Junior Olympics in 1989, before heading to the Kent School for
a postgraduate year.
This is Whittet's second head coaching position at Brown, as early
in his career, while an assistant coach for the Brown hockey team,
Whittet was also the head men's golf coach.
Whittet, his wife, Karen, are the parents of two daughters, Peyton
and Addyson.
- Whittet is the 15th head coach in the 111-year history of the Brown men's hockey program
- Whittet is the 3rd Brown hockey alum to be named Head Coach of the men's hockey team, joining Wescott E.S. Moulton '31 (1948-52), Donald F. Whiston '51 (1953-55), and J. Allan Soares '60 (1971-74)
- Whittet will become the 12th Brown alum on the current Brown athletic department staff, joining Beth Burlingame '81 (Associate Athletic Director), Paul Cooke '89 (Men's Crew Head Coach), Joe Donahue '07 (Men's Crew Assistant Coach), Tara Harrington '94 (Field Hockey Head Coach), Colleen Kelly '06 (Women's Basketball Assistant Coach), Bob Kenneally '90 (Associate Athletic Director), Keely McDonald '00 (Women's Lacrosse Head Coach), Phoebe Murphy '80 (Women's Crew Assistant Coach), James Perry '00 (Football Assistant Coach), Scott Stirling '00 (Men's Ice Hockey Assistant Coach), and Lars Tiffany '90 (Men's Lacrosse Head Coach).
