Jeffery L. Jackson (born June 22, 1955) is an American former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach. He most recently served as the head coach at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 2005 to 2025. He previously served as the head coach at

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...

, where he won two NCAA men's ice hockey championships. He has also been an assistant coach with the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

and head coach for the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marl ...

Coaching career

Jackson got his start in college hockey at

in 1986, where he worked with

Frank Anzalone Frank Anzalone (born March 15, 1954) is an American former ice hockey coach who led the Lake Superior State Lakers to their first national title in 1988. Career Playing Anzalone began playing for his native Brooklyn Stars of the NY-Metro leag ...

, helping lead the Lakers to one CCHA championship, and the 1988 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship. When Anzalone left the Lakers in 1990, Jackson was promoted to head coach. In his six years as head coach with Lake Superior, from 1990 to 1996, Jackson led the team to six consecutive NCAA appearances, including three straight trips to the finals from 1992 to 1994, and winning the 1992 and 1994 championships. Jackson stepped down as head coach of Lake Superior to become the national coach and senior director of the newly founded U.S. National Team Development program, based in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. In his first season, he guided the U.S. Junior National Team to a silver medal in the 1997 World Junior Championships. Jackson was also an assistant coach for Team USA at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

. He left the U.S. National Team in 2000 to become the head coach of the

in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

. Jackson led the Storm to a 16-point improvement from the previous season, as Guelph finished in second place in the Midwest Division. In the 2001–02 season, Guelph improved once again, as they earned 82 points, finishing in second place once again in the Midwest Division, and hosted the

2002 Memorial Cup The 2002 Memorial Cup occurred May 18–26 at the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre in Guelph, Ontario. It was the 84th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (C ...

, advancing to the tie-breaker game, where they lost to the

Victoriaville Tigres The Victoriaville Tigres are a Canadian junior ice hockey team that plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The team is based in Victoriaville, Quebec. The team plays its home games at the Colisée Desjardins. History The franchis ...

. Jackson began the 2002–03 with the Storm, however, the team struggled and Jackson was replaced midway through the season. He had a record of 87–67–24–4 during his time in Guelph. Jackson moved on to the

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

in 2003–04, as he was hired by Islanders head coach

Steve Stirling James Steven Stirling (born November 19, 1949) is a scout with the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He is the former head coach of the American Hockey League's Norfolk Admirals, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Springfield Falcons and ...

to work on his staff. The Islanders had a successful season, earning 91 points and a trip to the playoffs, however, they were eliminated by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

in the first round. Jackson remained with the club during the cancelled

2004–05 NHL season The 2004–05 NHL season would have been the National Hockey League's 88th season of play. The entire 1,230-game schedule, that was set to begin in October, was officially canceled on February 16, 2005, due to an unresolved lockout that began ...

. In 2005, the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

hired Jackson to turn around their hockey team, which had a tough 2004–05 season, in which the Irish had a record of 5–27–6. In his first year in Notre Dame, Jackson helped the team to a 13–19–4 record, which was a fourteen-point improvement over the previous season. In 2006–07, the Fighting Irish set numerous team records, including overall wins (32) and CCHA wins (21) as Notre Dame captured their first ever CCHA regular season and tournament championships. The Irish advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history, and earned their first ever tournament win. Jackson was awarded the CCHA Coach of the Year and the

Spencer Penrose Award The Spencer Penrose Award is awarded yearly to the top coach in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The finalists for each year's award comprise the conference Coach of the Year winners from each Division ...

as the National Coach of the Year. Notre Dame had another strong season in 2007–08, and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the second straight season. The Fighting Irish upset the #1 seed

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

7–3 in their first game, followed by a 3–1 victory over

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

to advance to the

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

for the first time in school history. Notre Dame stayed hot, and defeated the #1 seeded

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

5–4 in overtime to advance to their first ever berth in the final.

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

would win the championship, as they defeated Notre Dame 4–1. Another record-setting regular season followed in 2008–09, with the Irish earning a top seed in the NCAA Championship, however they were defeated in the first round by Bemidji State. On June 24, 2024, Jackson announced he would step down as head coach following the 2024–25 season, after 20 seasons at Notre Dame. On March 7, 2025, during the first quarterfinals game of the

2025 Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament The 2025 Big Ten Conference men's ice hockey tournament was the eleventh tournament in conference history. It was played between March 7 and March 22, 2025, on-campus locations. As the tournament winner, Michigan State earned the Big Ten's automa ...

against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, Jackson earned his 600th career victory.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

*
Notre Dame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Jeff 1955 births Living people American ice hockey coaches Guelph Storm coaches Ice hockey coaches from Michigan Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey coaches Michigan State University alumni New York Islanders coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish ice hockey coaches People from Roseville, Michigan Sportspeople from Metro Detroit

Coaching career

Head coaching record

College

See also

References

External links