When the Army Black Knights hockey team takes the ice for the 2025-26 season, it will be the first time in 75 years that a Riley will not be at the helm. Let that sink in for a minute.
The year was 1950 when Jack Riley arrived at West Point as a highly decorated player from Dartmouth College whose playing career was interrupted by a four-year tour of duty as a Naval aviator during World War II. He would go on to compete for the U.S. Olympic Team that was controversially disqualified from the 1948 Olympics when the U.S. sent two rival squads to compete in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
For the next 36 seasons the Boston native would lead the Black Knights to an astounding 542-343-20 record. He would also take a brief hiatus from West Point to lead the U.S. Olympic Team to the country’s first Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif.
His son, Rob, followed that stretch with 18 seasons of his own before handing the reins to his younger brother Brian, who has guided the team for the past 21 years.
Prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, Brian Riley announced that this would be his final year of coaching the Black Knights and that Zach McElvie would be taking over starting next season.
“It just felt like the time was right. Our family, with my dad, my brother and myself having been coaching at West Point for 75 years, I just thought that 75 seemed like a good number,” Riley said during a recent interview prior to taking on their service academy rivals, the Air Force Falcons.
The 65-year-old Riley added that the changing landscape of college hockey and college sports in general played a role in his decision to leave it to a younger coach to plot a future course for the venerable U.S. Military Academy’s hockey program.
“You either adapt or you leave it for somebody else,” Riley said. “Zach McKelvie is a rockstar when it comes to coaching, and I honestly don’t want to stand in his way anymore. I know he’s going to do an unbelievable job elevating the program to a new level.”
Being able to follow in his father’s and brother’s footsteps has meant the world to Riley. A 1983 graduate of Brown University, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach at SUNY Plattsburgh. During that period, the Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament three times, reaching the championship game twice.
From there he entered the Division I ranks at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he teamed with his cousin, Bill Riley, for one season. The following winter, Riley returned home to West Point to join his brother’s staff.
Other than two seasons spent coaching at Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep School in Faribault, Minn., Riley would remain with the Black Knights program for a total of 33 years.
“As a kid growing up, I knew my dad was an icon in college hockey, and I often wondered why he stayed at West Point. He could have been coaching at a big-time hockey school,” said Riley, who took over the program in 2004.
“But now having sat where he sat, I know why he stayed. The opportunity to be around and coach the young men that my dad was able to, that my brother was able to, and that I have been able to makes coaching at West Point the most rewarding and humbling opportunity.”
There have been opportunities at other universities and hockey programs over the years, but Riley said there was always a sticking point that made it hard for him to leave.
“I remember one [opportunity] in particular that I was looking at. When I was telling my brothers and one of them looked at me and said, ‘good luck telling dad.’ I didn’t take it so I didn’t have to have that discussion with my dad,” he recalled with a laugh.
More than just breaking the news to his father, Riley said coaching at West Point has been a dream job. In addition to working with some of the finest young men who demonstrate their character and class on and off the ice, Riley has enjoyed the team aspect of working with others in the development of tomorrow’s leaders.
“I’m so grateful to West Point. I’m so grateful to the sport of hockey. I will never be able to give back to West Point or hockey what it has given me,” Riley said.
“I can’t even call it a job. To know that as a coach you play a role in helping to shape young men that are going to lead this nation’s sons and daughters is really humbling and rewarding. I still pinch myself when people introduce me as the head coach of the Army hockey team.”
While it might seem like the end of an era, the Riley coaching legacy lives on. Brian’s son, Jack, is a member of his staff after a decorated playing career at Mercyhurst University, and his other son, Brendan, is on the coaching staff at American International College. And his nephew, Brett, is in his fifth year as the head coach at Long Island University, and another nephew, Mickey, is the director of hockey operations for Sacred Heart University.
“I can only hope that this next generation of Rileys get half as much out of hockey as what I’ve been able to get,” he said. “I’m going to enjoy sitting in the stands and watching them pave their path through college hockey.”
Riley has made peace with his decision and has been trying to soak it all in as the days tick down on what has been a historic coaching career.
“It will be bittersweet, but I just know that the time is right and honestly, there hasn’t been a day this year where I’ve said, ‘oh gosh, I made a mistake,’” he said. “This year has been unbelievable. I’m enjoying every little thing that goes into a season because I know it’s my last.”
Before he heads off into the coaching sunset, there is still some unfinished business for Riley and his Black Knights. The team has been on a roll as of late, losing only once in its last 11 games heading into its final regular season showdown against AIC this weekend. After that it’s on to the Atlantic Hockey Association playoffs.
With so much to play for over the final few weeks of his coaching career, Riley hasn’t spent much time trying to figure out what’s next. Whatever he decides to do, he knows his heart will always be close to West Point and Army hockey.
“I’m trying to figure that out,” he said when asked about his future plans. “I don’t want to just sit around and do nothing. When the season ends, I will sit down and talk to some people and figure out what the next step is. I’m certainly going to enjoy being a big fan of college hockey, and particularly Army hockey.”