Boston College Athletics Boston College men’s hockey coach Jerry York, a Watertown native, announced his retirement on April 13, 2022. Here he lifts the NCAA Championship trophy in 2010. He won five titles in his career.
After coaching for half a century, the last 28 years at Boston College, Watertown’s Jerry York announced his retirement. The Hall of Fame coach is the winningest coach in NCAA hockey history.
In his storied career, York won 1,123 games as head coach, and five national championships. He met with his players Wednesday to tell them about his decision, according to the announcement from the Boston College Athletics Department.
“I have been thinking about the possibility of retiring during the past several weeks and it just seemed to me to be the right time to do so,” said York. “I am so blessed to have been involved with Boston College these past 28 years and to have had the opportunity to coach so many wonderful student-athletes.”
According to BCEagles.com, he told the team that he wants to travel with his wife, Bobbie, spend more time with his family, watch his two grandchildren (who live in Pittsburgh) play hockey, lacrosse, and soccer, and for the first time play golf on a fall weekend.
York began his coaching career at Clarkson in 1972 at the age of 27. In 1979 he took the head job at Bowling Green, where he won the first of his national championships in 1984. In 1994, York returned to The Heights, where he played in college. The Eagles won national titles in 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2012.
He became the all-time winningest coach in college hockey on Dec. 29, 2012, passing Michigan State’s Ron Mason. Along his 1,123 wins in total, York’s teams had 41 NCAA Tournament victories, also a record.
During his tenure, BC won nine Hockey East Tournament titles and 12 regular season championships, according to BC Athletics. He was named Hockey East Coach of the Year in 2004, 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2021. York received the Spencer Penrose Trophy as NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 1977.
In 2019, York was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and in 2020 he went into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
As a player at BC, York earned First-Team All-America honors in 1967 and that same year he won the Walter Brown Award for the top American-born player in New England. He scored 134 points for the Eagles (84 goals, 70 assists) and led BC to a 60-29 record, the 1965 Beanpot title, and a second-place finish in the 1965 NCAA Tournament, according to BCEagles.com.
York grew up in Watertown and attended Boston College High School. Despite that he was inducted into the Watertown High School Hall of Fame in 2012. He still lives in town.