Jerry York, the winningest coach in college hockey history, has announced his retirement after 50 years behind the bench, the last 28 of which came at his alma mater, Boston College.
York, 76, finishes his coaching career with an astounding 1,123-682-128 record, five NCAA national championships, 13 Frozen Four appearances, 16 conference regular-season titles, 10 conference tournament titles, and nine Beanpots.
"I have been thinking about the possibility of retiring during the past several weeks and it just seemed to me to be the right time to do so," York said in a statement. "I am so blessed to have been involved with Boston College these past 28 years and to have had the opportunity to coach so many wonderful student-athletes."
York, who played at BC from 1963-67, began his coaching career as an assistant at Clarkson University in 1970. When then-Clarkson coach Len Ceglarski left to take the BC job in 1972, York took over as head coach of the Golden Knights at the age of 27.
He led Clarkson to an ECAC regular-season title in 1977 and won the Spencer Penrose Award that season as the national coach of the year. Incredibly, and inexplicably, that was the only time he ever won the award.
York moved on to Bowling Green State University in 1979 and spent the next 15 years there. He led the Falcons to their first and only national championship in 1984 and made the NCAA Tournament five other times as well. Bowling Green won four CCHA regular-season titles and one CCHA tournament title under his leadership.
York applied for BC's head coaching job twice in the 1990s before finally getting it on the third try. When Ceglarski retired in 1992, the school opted for Steve Cedorchuk, who would last just two seasons. In 1994, the Eagles made a big splash by hiring Mike Milbury, but Milbury resigned just two months later without having ever coached a game.
BC finally turned to York, and it turned out to be the best decision the program ever made. After slowly building for his first few years at BC, the Eagles really took flight in 1997-98 when York led them to a Hockey East tournament title and their first national championship game appearance in 20 years (a 3-2 loss to Michigan).
York and the Eagles reached the national title game again in 2000 and then won it all in 2001, the program's first national championship since 1949. York would lead BC to three more national titles in 2008, 2010 and 2012. York is one of just three coaches in college hockey history to win a national title at two different schools.
The Eagles won 11 Hockey East regular-season titles and nine Hockey East tournament titles under York. They made the NCAA Tournament 18 times and reached the Frozen Four in 12 of them.
Under York, the Eagles have produced two Hobey Baker Award winners (Mike Mottau and Johnny Gaudreau), 27 First Team All-Americans, and over 50 NHL players.
On Dec. 29, 2012, York became the winningest coach in college hockey history. He is now nearly 200 wins clear of second-place Ron Mason (924). York was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.
"The highlight of my career was on June 15, 1994, when BC President J. Donald Monan, S.J., and Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk invited me to meet with them at BC," York said. "We toured the campus, and later that evening Fr. Monan invited me to his office in Botolph House to talk. 'I want you to be the next hockey coach at BC,' he said. 'I know you will make us proud.' It has been an honor to serve my alma mater, to work for Fr. Monan and Fr. Leahy, and to coach with so many terrific assistants and fellow BC coaches. I leave knowing that it is the right time to go. The book hasn't closed, but it is time for me to start a new chapter."
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