MSU's Nightingale to Coach Team USA's World Junior Team

Michigan State hockey's head coach just landed a pretty nice (additional) job.

Shortly after his Spartans drew the No. 3 overall seed in this year's NCAA Tournament with a first-round matchup against UConn, Adam Nightingale confirmed that he was going to become Team USA's head coach for the 2027 World Juniors, which will be played in Canada from Dec. 26, 2026, through Jan. 5, 2027. The news was first reported by Frank Seravalli this past Tuesday.

Ryker Le — Michigan State's head coach Adam Nightingale calls out to players during hockey practice on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, at Munn Arena in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"There's so many good coaches that they could take to be able to represent our country on that stage," Nightingale said on Sunday about the honor. "The talent, you look at all the good coaching they have at a young level, and volunteers that kind of get these guys in a position to make this team.

"It's our staff's job at that point to try to take the best care of what we can, but [there's] a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into these guys making it. It's a huge, huge honor, and I'm looking forward to it."

More on Nightingale's Career

Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato, left, shakes hands with Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale after 5-2 loss at the Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, February 7, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Turnaround Hasn't Taken Ages

The turnaround under Nightingale has been swift and effective. Michigan State hadn't made an NCAA Tournament in 10 consecutive seasons when he first arrived and had finished below .500 in seven seasons in a row. After going 18-18-2 in his first year back at his alma mater, Nightingale has gotten MSU into pretty dominant shape.

Michigan State has gone 76-25-9 (.732) over its last three seasons, winning three straight Big Ten regular-season championships (two of them outright titles) and also winning the conference tournament twice. What remains to be seen is if Nightingale can get the Spartans to a Frozen Four or a national championship.

Nightingale has plenty of experience representing the red, white, and blue already. He was the head coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program (or USNTDP) from 2020 to 2022, also leading the United States to a silver medal at the 2022 Under-18 Men's World Championships in Germany.

He'll also be taking over the position from Bob Motzko, who "mutually agreed to part ways" with Minnesota after the Golden Gophers failed to make this year's NCAA Tournament. Nightingale now has Michigan State on a three-year streak for the first time since the program did it from 2006 to 2008, winning its most recent national championship in the middle year of that streak in '07.