If Division I hockey had a Mount Rushmore for current coaches, Bob Daniels’ image — with the coach’s 444 wins all with Ferris State — would be carved in stone. Despite playing with the recruiting disadvantage of a small rink from the 1970s, he has led his Bulldogs to three league championships in two conferences, driving one of those clubs to an NCAA title game and another to a No. 1 national ranking. His Bulldogs are a team you never want to meet in the NCAA tournament, boasting a 6-4 mark in four trips. Despite the fact that he has the third most wins of any active DI coach and is closing in on the historic 500-win mark, he doesn’t pause to smell the roses.

“I don’t think you ever stop and think about it,” said Daniels from his Ferris State office. “You’re always chasing your next win, or next season.” 

Hunkered down in Big Rapids, Michigan, for his 27th season as head coach, Daniels paused to reflect on the legends that were around when he began his coaching career. 

“I remember the early years and the older guys: Ron Mason, Red Berenson, Mike Sertich,” he said. “I don’t think they felt that they were in those positions either. Maybe it’s kind of sad; it’s the competitiveness.”

Mason was Daniels’ mentor at Michigan State, but once Daniels found his way to Ferris, the two coaches found themselves battling for supremacy in the old CCHA in the early 2000s, often with NCAA bids at stake. That competition did not dampen the friendship between the two men. 

“Ron was very helpful to me in my career,” Daniels said. “I could pick up the phone and say, ‘These are problems we’re having, what suggestions do you have?’ He knew the best way to build a program.”

Mason’s benevolence clearly influenced Daniels, who has created his own coaching tree over his quarter century on Michigan’s west coast. Red Wings’ coach Jeff Blashill and USA national team bench boss Seth Appert are both fixtures at their alma mater’s annual golf outing, and even Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper has been brought into Daniels’ hockey brood. 

“It’s almost an incestuous relationship between all of us,” Daniels said.

“He made the program feel like a family,” said Appert, who tended goal for Ferris in the mid-1990s. “He put in a culture where playing for the Bulldogs meant you are connected to each other for life.” 

Nate Ewell of College Hockey, Inc. is a historian of the sport, and when rating Daniels, his metrics go beyond wins and losses. 

“What may speak most to Bob’s impact is the number of coaches at various levels who have played for him at Ferris State,” Ewell said. “Each of them invariably credits him for helping inspire them to become coaches. It’s hard to imagine a better testament to a coach than that.”

Four-time Stanley Cup champion Chris Kunitz powered Ferris to a No. 1 national ranking late in the 2002-03 season, and he remains intensely loyal to Daniels and Ferris. Rather than bring the Cup to his home in western Canada, Kunitz brought the most famous trophy in sports back to Ferris, turning a day at Daniels’ summer hockey school into an unforgettable experience. 

“Chris brought the Stanley Cup back the first time he won it,” Daniels said. “It was really a special event for Ferris and Big Rapids. He’s that good a human being.”

Daniels has found sustained success at Ferris State

After the seismic upheaval in college hockey five years ago — one that saw the disbanding of Daniels’ beloved CCHA conference — Ferris has taken on a new identity in the reshaped WCHA. The Bulldogs used to be the dangerous floater in the CCHA, nipping at the heels of traditional powers like Michigan and Michigan State, until they finally broke through in 2003. When the revamped WCHA was formed a decade later, Ferris became the flag-bearer for the new conference, winning the regular season title and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2014. 

“We always felt like the underdogs in the CCHA,” Daniels said. “We just wanted to make our own mark. Now, in a new conference, we felt compelled do it for our own league.” 

That sense of altruism has Daniels buzzing about the upcoming 2018-19 campaign. He knows that early-season wins against out-of-conference opponents — like their overtime victory over Michigan a year ago — raises the computer rankings for every team in the WCHA. That becomes vital in March when the schools are scrambling to qualify for the NCAA tournament. 

“It’s really important that we realize we’re representing our conference, that we bring a positive RPI back into league play,” Daniels said.

He is now the elder statesman of the WCHA, a league still trying to find its identity, a league Daniels has become quite fond of. 

“I really enjoy the new conference,” Daniels said. “We’re northern climate schools in small towns where hockey is king. We’re playing in front of big crowds at Minnesota State, Michigan Tech or Northern — those rinks are buzzing.” 

Daniels knows the history of all these programs, histories documented by national championship banners hanging from the rafters. 

“Tech has won an NCAA crown, Northern has won, Bowling Green, Lake State has multiple crowns. We want to be a part of that group; we feel we can.”

Daniels knows of what he speaks: He led Ferris to three NCAA tournament berths between 2012 and 2016, advancing at least one round in each tourney, and reaching the 2012 championship game. He dismisses talk of not being able to compete with large schools with NHL-style facilities which boost recruiting. He enters this season optimistic over three new additions to his power play and five veteran defensemen, plus a promising goaltender from Finland. 

“The grind of the WCHA prepares us well; when we get into that tournament, we feel really comfortable,” he said. “There’s enough talent out there. Small schools always have a chance to win. That’s the beauty of college hockey.”

Tim Rappleye is the author of "Jack Parker's Wiseguys" and the forthcoming book: "Hobey Baker, Upon Further Review," set for release in November. He can be reached @TeeRaps.