Danton Cole to be named new head coach of Michigan State

By @MichaelCaples –

Danton Cole is moving offices, but it won’t be a long drive.

He won’t need directions to his new workplace, either.

Michigan State has selected Cole, a Pontiac native and Michigan State alum, to be the school’s next hockey head coach, a source close to the situation has confirmed to MiHockey.

MSU has announced to the media a 3 p.m. press conference regarding its hockey program.

Cole has worked as a head coach for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Plymouth/Ann Arbor since 2013.

Here’s what we wrote about him as one of the potential candidates for MSU’s vacant position:

Danton Cole played for Michigan State from 1985-1989 before embarking on a professional hockey career that featured 318 NHL games and a Stanley Cup championship with the New Jersey Devils. Cole, 50, went from player to assistant coach with the IHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 1999-00, and he has been building his coaching resume ever since. The Pontiac native served as head coach of the Griffins from 2002-05 before two years with the Motor City Mechanics of the UHL. In 2008, after a year as an assistant coach, Cole became the head coach of Alabama Huntsville, where stayed until 2010. From 2013 on, he has been one of the two head coaches for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor/Plymouth.