Princeton Hires First Assistant Coach in New Era

Ron Fogarty, the newly appointed head coach of the NCAA Division I Princeton Tigers, has made his first hire in the steps to rebuild his coaching staff for the 2014 season. On July 3rd, Fogarty announced that Brad Dexter would be the first assistant coach hired to join his new staff. Dexter, a former collegiate teammate of Fogarty’s, will be coming to Princeton from a nine-year stint as an assistant coach at both coaches’ alma mater, Colgate University.

The Princeton Tigers had a dismal record under their last coach, Bob Prier.

“In the past three years, they’ve failed to make it out of the first round of the ECAC playoffs”

In the past three years, they’ve failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs; the team had an overall record of 25-58-12, and finished dead last in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference in a 2013-2014 season that only saw six wins.

Prier chose to resign at the end of this final season after only three years as head coach. He was replaced by Fogarty on June 17, 2014, who announced Dexter’s addition to his staff a mere two and a half weeks later.

Although Dexter has spent the past decade coaching, he spent almost a decade playing professionally, as well. After graduating from Colgate in 1996-just a year after Fogarty- he played for the Raleigh IceCaps of the ECHL; he racked up 40 points in 52 games during the regular season before being traded to the South Carolina Stingrays for a championship-winning playoff run.

“While with the Stingrays, he helped the team win the inaugural Kelly Cup twice and served as an assistant captain for three years”

While with the Stingrays, he helped the team win the inaugural Kelly Cup twice and served as an assistant captain for three years. During the 1999-00 season, he skated in five games for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, and in three games with the Kansas City Blades of the IHL.

Dexter took a season off from professional play in 2001-02 in order to serve as an assistant coach at Clarkson- incidentally, another division rival for his new team. This wasn’t his first stint as a coach, though- he served as a player-coach for South Carolina from 1991 to 2001, serving as a liason between the players and the coaches in addition to his role as assistant captain. In 2008, the Stingrays inducted Dexter into their Hall of Fame.

A native of Kingston, Ontario, Dexter is excited to begin his new journey in New Jersey; and it’s safe to say that Princeton is excited to have him on board. The Colgate Raiders reached the ECAC championship five times during his nine years with the team; this past year alone, the team was the Championship runner-up, and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Of the players he’s coached, both Austin Smith and David McIntyre were All-American and Hobey Baker finalists, and Evan Cox was the 2012 Hockey Humanitarian for his hand in an annual holiday food drive in upstate New York. Two ECAC Hockey Players of the Year came from Colgate during Dexter’s tenure, as well as four All-ECAC first-team selections and two members of the ECAC All-Rookie Team.

While Princeton- and Fogarty- have their work cut out for them if they plan on becoming a championship-level team again, adding Brad Dexter to the coaching staff is definitely a step in the right direction.