“When I was looking for people, I had a lot of experienced people apply for the position,” Mazzoleni said. “When I asked around the Harvard community—people who know the program over the last 15 years—to tell me the most competitive guys who played, McCann was No. 1 on everyone’s list. Not only that, but he’s one hell of a person. I felt we hit a home run when we hired him.”
Perhaps more valuable than any coaching experience is McCann’s familiarity and success as a Harvard student-athlete.
McCann was a first-team All-American and Hobey Baker finalist in 1994, but he was also elected Class Marshal and credits his experience helping kids in public-service extracurriculars as one factor that influenced his return to coaching.
“I’ve been through the experience they’re going through. I know what’s happening to them and what to expect down the road,” McCann said. “Hopefully through my experiences I can help them deal with the pressures of playing D[ivision] I hockey as well as the academics at Harvard.”
In For The Long Haul?
With Rolston’s departure, Leaman now becomes the senior assistant for an upper-level college hockey program in just his fourth year of full-time coaching.
“Nate Leaman is one hell of a hockey coach,” Mazzoleni said. “I was very comfortable hiring someone like Sean who didn’t have a lot of experience because I have so much confidence in Nate as a coach, as a tactician, as a teacher and as a recruiter.”
In addition to managing the Crimson’s forwards and special teams, Leaman also takes on the critical role of liaison between Mazzoleni and his players.
Leaman provides a different voice to deliver Mazzoleni’s message, and serves as an outlet for players to express their complaints about anything, even Mazzoleni’s message.
“The head coach probably isn’t liked by the players,” Leaman said. “But it’s important for the head coach to be respected by the players. It’s the assistant’s job to communicate the message and develop a good relationship by the players. If they feel they need to talk about something, they can come to us.”
While Rolston used Harvard as a springboard to a more prestigious position, Leaman says he has no plans to leave anytime soon. In fact, Leaman says he has turned down job offers from other schools in each of the past two years.
“I have a lot of pride in the kids here and in Harvard hockey,” Leaman said. “I’ve invested a lot of time and building over these three years. I haven’t changed positions because I want to see this through. I think you can win a national championship at Harvard.”
Leaman and McCann might stay at Harvard for the foreseeable future, but Mazzoleni eventually has other ideas for his staff—ideas that his relatively hands-off style should someday help bring to fruition.
“I want them to all be head coaches someday,” Mazzoleni said.
—Staff writer Elijah M. Alper can be reached at alper@fas.harvard.edu.