Former BGSU hockey standout Wayne Wilson (BGSU ’84) announced his retirement on Wednesday after completing his 26th season as head coach of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) men’s hockey team.
Wilson spent four seasons playing at BGSU from 1980 to 1984. During his time at BG, Wilson netted 14 goals and tallied 87 assists for a career total of 101 points scored in 165 career games. He was a co-captain for BG during the 1983–1984 season and helped the Falcons win the National Championship that season.
Wilson graduated from BG in 1984 with a degree in health, physical education, and recreation and earned a master’s degree in education from BG in 1987.
His coaching career started in 1987 when Wilson served as an assistant coach at the University of New Hampshire for a single season.
Wilson returned to BG in 1988 when he served as an assistant under his former coach and NCAA hockey’s all-time winningest coach, Jerry York. Wilson served as an assistant coach for BG from 1988 to 1999 while coaching under York and later Buddy Powers following York’s departure from Bowling Green after the 1994 season.
During his 11 seasons coaching the Falcons, the team had a record of 205-203-29 and produced a Hobey Baker Award winner with Brian Holzinger claiming the award in 1995.
Wilson moved on from BG after the 1999 season and took his talents to RIT, which at the time was a Division III team. Wilson oversaw the team’s move up to the Division I level in 2005.
In his 26 years as head coach, Wilson led RIT to a record of 116-31-12 in six seasons at the DIII level and a record of 355-306-70 over 20 seasons at the DI level. In that time, RIT won four Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) championships and six AHA regular season championships and made four appearances in the NCAA tournament, including a trip to the Frozen Four in 2010. The program produced 13 All-Americans, three AHA Player of the Year awards, and two Hobey Baker Award finalists during Wilson’s tenure.
Individually, Wilson won his fair share of awards throughout his career, including winning the Edward Jeremiah Award for the NCAA DIII national hockey coach of the year in 2001, the Spencer Penrose Award for the NCAA DI national hockey coach of the year in 2010 (was also a finalist in 2023 and 2024), and the AHA Coach of the Year award in 2023 and 2024.
In an official statement by RIT, Wilson stated, “I want to thank my former coaches at Bowling Green, Jerry York, Bill Wilkinson, Buddy Powers, and the late Terry Flanagan for instilling the fire in me to coach. I would also like to thank Bowling Green, New Hampshire, and RIT for giving me the opportunity to coach, especially RIT Executive Athletic Directors Lou Spiotti and Jackie Nicholson for their support and all they provided me and my family.”
While excited about retirement and the opportunity to spend more time with his family, Wilson commented on the emotions he’s feeling while stepping away from coaching.
“After 40 years of coaching, it’s bittersweet to announce my retirement. I don’t know if there is ever a good time to retire, but I feel that it’s the right time for me,” said Wilson in an official statement from RIT.
Wilson finishes his career as the winningest coach in RIT program history and ranks 33rd in NCAA history for career wins (471) by a head coach. He is also the only coach in NCAA history to win both the Edward Jeremiah and Spencer Penrose awards.
