In what has been the busiest off-season in Miami hockey history, the RedHawks have not only significantly bolstered their player roster, they’ve fortified their coaching and training staffs as well.
MU has added an assistant to the head coach, promoted two assistants and has upgraded in the strength and conditioning department, adding a coach from the AHL.
“We knew we’ve got a long way to go, and we know — no different than the team, the players — we’ve got to work, and we’ve got a lot of hard work in front of us and a tough hill to climb, but we’re going to put everything we can into it and we feel like there’s the right group in place to do that,” Miami coach Anthony Noreen said.
Jimmy Spratt and Gord Farnell are the newest additions to the staff, although Spratt previously spent three seasons at Miami as its hockey operations coordinator. Farnell was named strength and conditioning coordinator last month.
Lionel Mauron, the former Ohio University coach who was assistant to the head coach for the RedHawks last season, was named an assistant coach in July, and David Nies was named the team’s general manager after functioning as Miami’s recruiting coordinator in 2024-25.
Farnell was the strength and conditioning coach for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers the past four seasons. He previously completed internships for the Edmonton Oilers and the University of Denver.
“Gord Farnell, for us, I think that’s a program changer, without a doubt,” Noreen said. “He’s a guy that we did as much research as we could in the strength and sports science department, and we’ve said from the beginning that we wanted to be the program in college hockey that does the best job developing players for their future and developing men for their future, and a huge part of college hockey is the off-ice part, is the sports science part, is what they’re able to do and put on strength-wise and in the gym and how they eat and how they live.
“That’s why you go to college. That’s the reason guys are leaving the CHL to come here, not just it’s competitive on the ice, but because of the training-to-game ratio. You’re not playing 72 games, you’re not maybe working out twice a week — you’re in the gym and you’re lifting hard and you have a long off-season to lift and get stronger and grow.
Noreen said his staff did a tremendous amount of research on Farnell before bringing him to Miami.
“He came extremely highly-recommended by some of the best people in that space, and thankfully he believed in what we were doing and wanted to be a part of it,” Noreen said. “I think it took about two minutes in the weight room of seeing him move and interact and how dialed is and the plan he has to know that guys are going to feel very confident coming in here as far as what that department and our sports science is going to be like with him at the head of it.”
Spratt, a former Bowling Green goalie, was previously in charge of Miami hockey operations in 2019-22 and helped coach the netminders while in Oxford.
He joined the USHL Fargo as an assistant coach last season after serving in the same role with Northern Michigan in 2023-24.
“Jimmy obviously has a tremendous amount of experience,” Noreen said. “No. 1 he’s been here, so he knows the ins-and-outs of the university, No. 2, he’s worked as an assistant coach at the collegiate level on a program that had success. I just think he’s been around some really good people and some really good hockey minds, not to mention Chris Bergeron here, and obviously he’s played — he’s been at this level before. I just think he’s a really good addition to our staff.”
Mauron was formerly the club head coach for Ohio University, where he went 72-29-11 in three seasons, earning ACHA coach of the year honors.
The Swiss-born Mauron played for Lausanne of the Swiss League as well as ECHL Jacksonville following his graduation from Division III Curry College in 2019.
“Lio is someone who without a doubt from the first time meeting him last year, we felt like there would be an opportunity for upward mobility here, and there was a process here — we talked to a lot of people about that job,” Noreen said. “(We) interviewed Lio no different than the rest of the pool, and the bottom line is he separated himself and it had nothing to do with familiarity or comfort level with us, he stood on his own two feet and earned the position.”
Nies was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under head coach Anthony Noreen in 2024-25 but was named general manager in June.
He coached with Noreen at USHL Tri-City and was an assistant for the U.S. National Development team in 2023-24.
“Stepping into a GM is something we felt was extremely important,” Noreen said. “Obviously he is going to deal with our players that are here directly as well, but (someone) just solely focused on the player side, and recruiting side and being in the rinks — there’s a lot to cover. I think he’s a great representation of our program, I think he’s got great relationships with various coaches, players, advisors, things like that, and I think he’s going to be great in that role.”
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