Penn State Associate Head Coach Allison Coomey named Delaware Blue Hens head coach

Last week, the Delaware Blue Hens women’s hockey account broke the news that Penn State Associate Head Coach Allison Coomey will be the team’s head coach.

Coomey went to college at Niagara University from 1998-2002 where she played lacrosse and ice hockey. In her senior season, she served as the team’s alternate captain and helped lead the team to the 2002 Frozen Four.

Coomey’s coaching journey began following graduation when she had an internship as the assistant women's hockey coach at Connecticut College.

After working in Division-III with Plattsburgh, Coomey returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach for Niagara from 2004-08. Coomey’s Purple Eagles reached the CHA title game twice.

Coomey would then take a position at Boston University where she was the assistant coach for nine seasons. In her time with BU, the Terriers would qualify six times for the NCAA tournament.

Following her time at BU, Coomey would come to Penn State as part of the Penn State staff. In the 2020-21 season, she was promoted to Associate Head Coach and would coach besides head coach Jeff Kampersal.

Coomey is regarded as one of the most decorated and accomplished coaches in the sport with fantastic experience as a leader and coach within USA Hockey and has provided invaluable intangibles to the Nittany Lions' program,” according to Penn State Athletics.

The move to Delaware is a huge opportunity for Coomey to make her mark as a head coach.

Just recently, the University of Delaware announced that they will become the 45th NCAA Division I women's ice hockey program for the 2025-26 season. The move also comes as part of a multitiered partnership with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Coomey will be able to start the program from the bottom as the head coach and will seek to build a championship program.

The Flyers will be heavily involved in the new program including funding the team. The Flyers will also be hosting the Flyers Next Shift program.

According to NHL.com, the Flyers Next Shift Program “will allow college-age women to shadow professional women throughout the Flyers organization on a game night.”

While this is a huge loss for the Penn State Women’s team, it is an unbelievable opportunity for Coomey and an opportunity some people dream of.

At the moment, it is unclear what Penn State wants to do with the open assistant coach position. The team does have some options they may want to take a look at.

Penn State can choose to seek out a coach from a different program or they can promote one of the assistant coaches to associate head coach.

The two assistant coaches are Makenna Newkirk and Ben Halford and it will be interesting to see if they get a promotion.

Matt Becker is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mcb6250@psu.edu.