On how he's adjusted to the new position

I've adjusted. My bad joke is that I've been telling everyone that I've been drinking through a firehose since I started. There's a lot to do. All positive. We're getting it done and we're starting to build it the way that we want.

On what it means to be the interim head coach

It means a lot. You take the time to talk to Warde and you get the job and you're excited for a split second. Especially, the family, seeing how excited my family was was really cool. I've got a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old and they're pretty pumped up. Met my wife at Michigan. A lot of roots here. I've just been thinking about the job now, There's a lot to do. I'd like to say I'm a worker and just getting into the grind.

On whether his children play hockey

My 7-year-old is Leo, my 5-year-old Aria, my daughter. My 7-year-old does, my daughter does not. I don't think she's too into it. Everyone asks if me I'm good with it, of course, I'm good with it. I love her to but definitely not pushing it. They play a lot of different sports.

On how he told his kids he is the head coach

We sat them down at the dinner table. I couldn't get it out, my wife had to take over. It was funny, even in anticipation and waiting to hear the final decision, I was pacing around—with my wife and my brother pacing around the house. I walked in from taking the Zoom call in my car. I couldn't talk and I just gave the thumbs up. I will never forget that feeling. It's pretty cool.

On whether he thought as a player that he would be coaching

Did I ever think it would happen? It was always the goal. I've had so many people right, wrong or indifferent, former teammates and friends say, I remember you talking about how you would do it when you played here. Even after. It was always the goal, I think it came quicker than I expected. It was always the goal to be the head coach.

On how the players react and the conversations he's had with them

Obviously, being part of their recruiting process for the one year that I was here and Coach Muckalt has done a great job recruiting and the drafts and all these high-end players that have come in. Even players that maybe don't play a lot, they're great people. We want to keep getting guys like that. It's been awesome. You'd have to ask them how they feel, I think it's been super positive from what they've said to me. I'm excited about this group. We have 12 freshmen but a lot of leaders coming in from the freshmen class. A lot of leaders coming back. It's kind of cliche but our line this year is, 'Good dudes only.' Good dudes only, what that means is you treat people the way you want to be treated. We're always asking each other this question, would a good dude do this? If it's the right choice, the answer is yes. If it's the wrong one, the answer is no. Connecting and doing it for each other. Just trying to build up the culture of how we do things.

On what he's been focusing on

A lot. I keep saying that. The biggest thing right away was hiring staff. Brought in Rob Rassey as an assistant coach, he spent six years at Harvard and two years with the Detroit Red Wings. Forward-thinker, very well educated, great communicator with the players and these attributes are what we're looking for in everybody. Whether it's Caroline the nutritionist or Bill Muckalt the associate head coach, just good people that are forward thinking and solution-based. Then we brought in Topher Scott, he was at Cornell for six years as an assistant coach there. He's going to take over for hockey ops. He specializes in leadership, and culture, obviously, brings the coaching component to it and one of the most organized guys I know which will be great for hockey ops.

On what drew him to coaching

Just the mentorship piece, to be honest with you. My background is player development and data, and I've spent a lot of time with that. I take pride in studying people that are great in their space and I love hearing the story of how they got there. It usually comes with a lot of failures first. It's always been the goal. I've got a lot goals, you try to manifest things and hope they work out. It is interesting looking back on 10 years since I stopped playing and the path that I've taken, it's an untraditional path. All I know is to be myself and try to be better every day and learn from smart people.

On whether he misses playing

I think that goes into my coaching style, jumping into drills and having some fun with the guys. I was always an extremely average skater but I could shoot the puck. Anytime I can jump into a drill that's a strength, you've got to show them that you've still got it a little bit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

On the advice he's gotten and the advice he's trying to seek out

It's been very simple and very consistent. I actually spent an hour or so with Coach Harbaugh the other day, you'll laugh at the first thing he said. Don't listen to the critics and then he said just be yourself. Be yourself, I'm bad at faking it. I don't know how to do anything else but be myself. That has been the consistent feedback from a lot of high-performing people. That's what I plan to do.

On last season's run to the Frozen Four

It was awesome. I was spoiled to walk into the role of an assistant coach with the type of talent that we had. With that said, just. because you have the best players and it doesn't mean you have the best team and that you're going to win at the end of the day. That was our message to the guys during our first team meeting about an hour or so ago. The teams that win at the end of the year are the teams that are the closest. Just talked about connecting and being vulnerable with your teammates to lift each other up. Your strengths or weaknesses but we can all be there for each other.

On his early impressions of the team

We have some very high-end players coming in. Super excited about it. We're going to be fast and we're going attack everything that we do offensively and defensively. I'm really excited about more, like I mentioned to you before, about the people. I think they're kids that want to learn and they want to be the best. I think they believe that they are. We need to teach them that failure is OK. That's how you learn and grow. Again, just got done talking to them, it's their team. I'm here to support them and all the resources that Michigan has to offer on the ice and in the classroom, they should take advantage of it and they've got a lot of high-performing people that care and want to help.

On how much of the non-conference schedule was in place before taking the job

Everything was in place. I didn't do anything with the schedule.

On the non-conference schedule

Yeah, BU is similar to Michigan. The tradition of their program, they've been at the top-end for a long time. They just got a new head coach as well. Similar background, I didn't play in the NHL but he played in the NHL, he won some Stanley Cups. They're doing some good things. I think it's good to talk about other programs doing it right, or at least they're trying to. We're in recruiting battle with schools like that. You have to give credit where credit is due. I could talk about a lot of things. I just can't wait to start proving it on the ice and having these kids start to have some success.

On playing Ohio State in Cleveland

That's going to be awesome. We had a little Zoom call before they officially announced it publicly. Seems like all the guys are fired up. I've never been involved in an outdoor game. I think the one in 2010 in the Big House, I graduated in 2009 so I missed it. Talking to Coach Muckalt who has been involved in a couple. It sounds awesome. I think it's a Thursday, Saturday. To get in there Friday, have a practice and be around family and the rest of the team, just enjoy the overall weekend, I think it will be great about Big Ten hockey.

On whether he's thought about what it would feel like days before the first puck drop

I just got goosebumps when you said that. I know it sounds so cliche, I've just been worried about the job. My wife asked me that the other day. It was surreal as an assistant walking out. I remember Red Berenson as he was walking out on the ice, he used to give knucks to everyone along the glass. Now I'm walking out on the ice and people are putting their knucks out. It really hits you. It's really cool, 100% there is no better game night atmosphere than Yost. Especially last year. Ohio State at the end of the year stands out to me. The Notre Dame game in the Big Ten semis. It was a special place. It was rocking.