New RIT women’s hockey coach has previous ROC employment ties

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

When Chad Davis was introduced as Rochester Institute of Technology’s newest women’s hockey coach, he added another Flower City employment entity to his resume.

Long before he ever saw RIT play hockey and long, long before he applied to be Scott McDonald’s replacement as head coach, he was employed by another Rochester institution: Paychex.

Now, no offense to the company co-founded by Tom Golisano and Gene Polisseni — whose name is on RIT’s hockey rink — but it’s safe to say Davis is a little more driven to coach hockey than he was to sell for Paychex.

Davis, 37, comes to RIT from Adrian College in Adrian, Mich. The Chelsea, Mich., native spent the previous seven seasons at the NCAA Division III school, where he won winning three consecutive Northern Collegiate Hockey Association championships and guided the Bulldogs to the past three NCAA tournaments. They finished as the runners-up in 2016-17.

In his only seven seasons as a head coach, Davis compiled a 150-37-10 record, including 95-14-6 over the past four years. He was the AHCA/CCM Division III coach of the year in 2016-17.

“There’s no question he knows how to win,” said Lou Spiotti, RIT’s executive director of intercollegiate athletics, “but he’s done so within the rules.

“We have a rich tradition here. We look for great people to lead our student athletes, people who align with our values.”

Davis was one of 26 official applicants for the position. There also were several coaches that kicked the tires but didn’t apply.

The job search began late, because McDonald didn’t resign until July 9. The search committee was impressed with Davis’ resume, personality, background and coaching philosophy.

He played NCAA Division I hockey for American International College, a member of Atlantic Hockey, from 2001-02 through ’03-04. He didn’t get into collegiate coaching until 2010-11, when he was a volunteer assistant under Derek Schooley at Robert Morris University.

“He put in the time and effort,” Spiotti said of Davis’ dedication. “To go to Robert Morris, he had to live away from his family.”

It was actually a by-chance meeting with RIT men’s hockey that convinced Davis to pursue coaching. He had been coaching high school and youth hockey, but it wasn’t his career. Living not far from Detroit, he ventured to Ford Field for the Frozen Four in 2010, when RIT made its magical run to the NCAA semifinals.

“I’d been out of hockey and I got the feel again,” Davis said. “I got to see the coaches interact with the players again.”

He decided it was time to chase the coaching dream. He landed at Robert Morris as the volunteer assistant, and the next year was hired to coach at Adrian.

Now he takes over a program that has slumped. The Tigers won the Division III championship in 2012 and reached the NCAA Division I tournament 2014-15. But RIT was just 4-28-3 last year, and has a 19-82-6 record over the past three seasons.

So how do the Tigers become more competitive?

“We start working right now,” Davis said, “and we’re relentless about it.”

Like the men’s program, RIT’s women’s program is not allowed to offer athletic scholarships because the school is Division I in just one sport. It’s a disadvantage, to be sure.

But with Davis coming from a Division III school, he’s well aware of those limitations.

“He’s been dealing with exactly what we have to deal with,” Spiotti said. “He’ll be real good for RIT. He’s a person who hasn’t peaked, he’s on the way up.”