The Penguins' search for a new head coach ended today with the hiring of Dan Muse, seemingly out of left field after Muse flew under the radar for most of the search.
What's readily available about Muse is the basics -- an extensive history of development with the U.S. National Team Development Program, the Chicago Steel and Yale. Championships with the Steel and in the U18 World Juniors. A strong penalty-kill as an assistant coach with the Rangers and Predators.
Along the way, though, Muse has put together a pretty interesting presence on The Coaches Site, a platform and community for hockey coaches to share their expertise and learn from each other. He has a number of videos on The Coaches Site's channel, including some interviews with the site's podcast.
Here are some things we can take away from Muse's talks on those platforms, and a handful of other platforms:
1. He's used to having to prove himself to players way better than himself
Muse wasn't much of a player. The highest level in which he played was at NCAA Division III Stonehill College, where he put up a whopping five goals and six assists in 61 games over four years. Immediately after college, he was an assistant coach at a prep school in Milton Academy, then at Division III Williams College, and then Division I Sacred Heart before Yale, where his career took off. From Sacred Heart on, he's been coaching at a higher level than he ever played, and so over the years he's learned how to establish himself as an expert and an authority through his preparation.
"You have to believe in yourself, you have to believe in what you do," he said. "When you've done everything you can do to prepare, you go into anything with more confidence. ... I've always been coaching higher levels than I played. Always. Every level I've coached has been a higher level than I played. I was probably more intimidated going into the locker room for the first time at Sacred Heart, coaching Division I (than going into the Predators' locker room).
"I wasn't just a D3 player, I was a bad D3 player," Muse continued. "Those stats, those were padded stats! I had a couple of phantom assists in there! Those weren't even real, worse than that! But it's like, I've always been doing that. It's not new to me. I know what I was as a player, I shouldn't have even been a D3 player. That was part of my journey. You have to take that same approach and put it into coaching. Put in the work. Go in there, be confident, and be proud of what you present."
2. He values empowering his assistant coaches
When Muse joined Peter Laviolette's coaching staff in Nashville, he said that, if he ever got to be a head coach again, he'd be better than he was in his earlier stints because of what he'd learned from Laviolette. And one of those lessons was to empower and trust your assistant coaches.
"I wasn't even close to being in that position my first time when I was a head coach," Muse said of empowering assistant coaches. "Just the way (Laviolette) would put me in front of the room, right away, Day 1. I'm a new assistant coach and it was all, 'I'm going to put you in front of the team, you're going to present and you're going to do a great job. Go.' He set me up for success. I don't think when I had been a head coach prior I would have even thought of that."
3. His roots are all over
Muse was born in Chicago and spent some of his youth in Worcester, Mass. But his hockey roots come from more non-traditional markets.
Muse's family moved to northern California when he was young, and that's where he became "obsessed with hockey." His father played hockey growing up, and Muse would see his dad's old equipment in the barn on their ranch and thought it was the "coolest thing." But without any ice nearby, he and his brothers played street hockey outside of the barn.
Later in Muse's childhood, his family moved to Alabama, and Muse said he "felt like I hit a home run," because there was an actual ice rink nearby. He started playing there at 11 years old. His family later moved back to Massachusetts, where he was able to get more into hockey through the greater opportunities. But having started playing so late in childhood, he was "behind the eight ball" compared to the other kids in Massachusetts. He attributes that path to his high work ethic, having to work so much harder than other kids to make up for his relative lack of experience.
4. He almost went to law school
Muse has a degree in criminal justice, having intentions of becoming either a police officer or a lawyer before his coaching career took off. He was preparing for his LSATs to go to law school when he got the assistant coaching job at Milton Academy. He got accepted into law school, went as far as attending the open house, before getting into his car afterward and calling his father to let him know that he thought he'd try coaching first.
Muse had a number of side gigs along the way, too. He taught high school lacrosse while he was in college and worked at his local rink as well.
5. He's a natural teacher
While Muse was coaching at Milton Academy, he landed a job as a high school history teacher at a local Catholic school ... with no teaching background or relevant schooling.
"I must have done pretty well in the interview," Muse said of landing a teaching gig without any experience. "There wasn't necessarily those requirements where you needed a teaching degree, but I was going to have to start taking some of the tests in Massachusetts, there was a timeframe."
Muse, of course, never followed through on getting the teaching degree and only taught history for a year. But he gained valuable experience on the job that made him a good coach.
"I'm in a classroom with 30 kids, all different backgrounds, different levels," he said. "The first month it hit me that every single kid is going to learn differently. Every single kid is going to be motivated differently. My job is going to be to get this information -- and I'm basically just a chapter ahead of them -- and get through to as many kids as possible, and have them excited about school and learning, learning some lessons. So many of those things I had to learn that year are things I use to this day."
6. He's passionate about development
Muse took an interesting path after becoming an assistant coach in Nashville. He took what some may perceive as a step backward, going to coach the U.S. National Team Development Program before getting back to the NHL with the Rangers.
His reasoning for going back to coach the junior level, he said, was that he really cares about player development.
"The No. 1 thing for me is development and to make an impact on these young men," he said. "Not just hockey careers, but their lives. These are such key years for them. It's exciting for me. Whatever league it's been, development for me has always been my top value as a coach. To come into an organization where that's the top value is extremely exciting."
7. He's a big believer in maximizing movement in the neutral zone
Now for some more Xs and Os-type observation from Muse -- one thing he cares a lot about is movement in the neutral zone, and how to move through it as quickly as possible in order to generate scoring chances.
Here is Muse explaining a practice drill in order to accomplish just that:
8. He wants to work with players away from the puck
“I really believe that right now the players coming up in today’s day and age, they can skate, they’ve got great puck skills, they can shoot," Muse said at a 2023 conference for The Coaches Site. "But away from the puck, as coaches, we have to help them continue to get better. It’s going to be extremely important for them as they reach the higher levels.”
Muse spoke at a conference on the importance of having a second player working to support the player with the puck and how to do that:
9. He wants defense to lead to offense
Muse explained in an NHL Coaches Conference that he thinks "strong defense will create the best opportunities to catch opponents in vulnerable positions and transition to offense with time and space."
10. He thinks systems come last
Muse wants to have a clear and concise plan when it comes to systems, strategy and game plans. But he also thinks that all of that is secondary to what really matters.
The starting point, Muse says, is growing and developing a culture that fosters individual and team growth. After that in the list of priorities comes developing an off-ice foundation of strong mental skills, character, leadership and team-building. Then comes on-ice fundamental and general team concepts, habits and skills. Then comes playing within a system.
"Players need to know how to play within team confines," Muse said. "But details, skills, habits, concepts all come before structure."
THE ASYLUM
Ten things to know about the new head coach
The Penguins' search for a new head coach ended today with the hiring of Dan Muse, seemingly out of left field after Muse flew under the radar for most of the search.
What's readily available about Muse is the basics -- an extensive history of development with the U.S. National Team Development Program, the Chicago Steel and Yale. Championships with the Steel and in the U18 World Juniors. A strong penalty-kill as an assistant coach with the Rangers and Predators.
Along the way, though, Muse has put together a pretty interesting presence on The Coaches Site, a platform and community for hockey coaches to share their expertise and learn from each other. He has a number of videos on The Coaches Site's channel, including some interviews with the site's podcast.
Here are some things we can take away from Muse's talks on those platforms, and a handful of other platforms:
1. He's used to having to prove himself to players way better than himself
Muse wasn't much of a player. The highest level in which he played was at NCAA Division III Stonehill College, where he put up a whopping five goals and six assists in 61 games over four years. Immediately after college, he was an assistant coach at a prep school in Milton Academy, then at Division III Williams College, and then Division I Sacred Heart before Yale, where his career took off. From Sacred Heart on, he's been coaching at a higher level than he ever played, and so over the years he's learned how to establish himself as an expert and an authority through his preparation.
"You have to believe in yourself, you have to believe in what you do," he said. "When you've done everything you can do to prepare, you go into anything with more confidence. ... I've always been coaching higher levels than I played. Always. Every level I've coached has been a higher level than I played. I was probably more intimidated going into the locker room for the first time at Sacred Heart, coaching Division I (than going into the Predators' locker room).
"I wasn't just a D3 player, I was a bad D3 player," Muse continued. "Those stats, those were padded stats! I had a couple of phantom assists in there! Those weren't even real, worse than that! But it's like, I've always been doing that. It's not new to me. I know what I was as a player, I shouldn't have even been a D3 player. That was part of my journey. You have to take that same approach and put it into coaching. Put in the work. Go in there, be confident, and be proud of what you present."
2. He values empowering his assistant coaches
When Muse joined Peter Laviolette's coaching staff in Nashville, he said that, if he ever got to be a head coach again, he'd be better than he was in his earlier stints because of what he'd learned from Laviolette. And one of those lessons was to empower and trust your assistant coaches.
"I wasn't even close to being in that position my first time when I was a head coach," Muse said of empowering assistant coaches. "Just the way (Laviolette) would put me in front of the room, right away, Day 1. I'm a new assistant coach and it was all, 'I'm going to put you in front of the team, you're going to present and you're going to do a great job. Go.' He set me up for success. I don't think when I had been a head coach prior I would have even thought of that."
3. His roots are all over
Muse was born in Chicago and spent some of his youth in Worcester, Mass. But his hockey roots come from more non-traditional markets.
Muse's family moved to northern California when he was young, and that's where he became "obsessed with hockey." His father played hockey growing up, and Muse would see his dad's old equipment in the barn on their ranch and thought it was the "coolest thing." But without any ice nearby, he and his brothers played street hockey outside of the barn.
Later in Muse's childhood, his family moved to Alabama, and Muse said he "felt like I hit a home run," because there was an actual ice rink nearby. He started playing there at 11 years old. His family later moved back to Massachusetts, where he was able to get more into hockey through the greater opportunities. But having started playing so late in childhood, he was "behind the eight ball" compared to the other kids in Massachusetts. He attributes that path to his high work ethic, having to work so much harder than other kids to make up for his relative lack of experience.
4. He almost went to law school
Muse has a degree in criminal justice, having intentions of becoming either a police officer or a lawyer before his coaching career took off. He was preparing for his LSATs to go to law school when he got the assistant coaching job at Milton Academy. He got accepted into law school, went as far as attending the open house, before getting into his car afterward and calling his father to let him know that he thought he'd try coaching first.
Muse had a number of side gigs along the way, too. He taught high school lacrosse while he was in college and worked at his local rink as well.
5. He's a natural teacher
While Muse was coaching at Milton Academy, he landed a job as a high school history teacher at a local Catholic school ... with no teaching background or relevant schooling.
"I must have done pretty well in the interview," Muse said of landing a teaching gig without any experience. "There wasn't necessarily those requirements where you needed a teaching degree, but I was going to have to start taking some of the tests in Massachusetts, there was a timeframe."
Muse, of course, never followed through on getting the teaching degree and only taught history for a year. But he gained valuable experience on the job that made him a good coach.
"I'm in a classroom with 30 kids, all different backgrounds, different levels," he said. "The first month it hit me that every single kid is going to learn differently. Every single kid is going to be motivated differently. My job is going to be to get this information -- and I'm basically just a chapter ahead of them -- and get through to as many kids as possible, and have them excited about school and learning, learning some lessons. So many of those things I had to learn that year are things I use to this day."
6. He's passionate about development
Muse took an interesting path after becoming an assistant coach in Nashville. He took what some may perceive as a step backward, going to coach the U.S. National Team Development Program before getting back to the NHL with the Rangers.
His reasoning for going back to coach the junior level, he said, was that he really cares about player development.
"The No. 1 thing for me is development and to make an impact on these young men," he said. "Not just hockey careers, but their lives. These are such key years for them. It's exciting for me. Whatever league it's been, development for me has always been my top value as a coach. To come into an organization where that's the top value is extremely exciting."
7. He's a big believer in maximizing movement in the neutral zone
Now for some more Xs and Os-type observation from Muse -- one thing he cares a lot about is movement in the neutral zone, and how to move through it as quickly as possible in order to generate scoring chances.
Here is Muse explaining a practice drill in order to accomplish just that:
8. He wants to work with players away from the puck
“I really believe that right now the players coming up in today’s day and age, they can skate, they’ve got great puck skills, they can shoot," Muse said at a 2023 conference for The Coaches Site. "But away from the puck, as coaches, we have to help them continue to get better. It’s going to be extremely important for them as they reach the higher levels.”
Muse spoke at a conference on the importance of having a second player working to support the player with the puck and how to do that:
9. He wants defense to lead to offense
Muse explained in an NHL Coaches Conference that he thinks "strong defense will create the best opportunities to catch opponents in vulnerable positions and transition to offense with time and space."
10. He thinks systems come last
Muse wants to have a clear and concise plan when it comes to systems, strategy and game plans. But he also thinks that all of that is secondary to what really matters.
The starting point, Muse says, is growing and developing a culture that fosters individual and team growth. After that in the list of priorities comes developing an off-ice foundation of strong mental skills, character, leadership and team-building. Then comes on-ice fundamental and general team concepts, habits and skills. Then comes playing within a system.
"Players need to know how to play within team confines," Muse said. "But details, skills, habits, concepts all come before structure."
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