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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Thirty-four years ago, Mike Schafer '86 left his alma mater for a job at Western Michigan hoping to get the additional experience needed to make him an ideal candidate for a head coaching position — particularly if the job at Cornell eventually opened. The following spring, former Big Red captain Casey Jones '90 took Schafer's prior spot on then-head coach Brian McCutcheon's staff.
In 1995, Schafer was named head coach at Cornell with the goal of helping the Big Red reclaim national notoriety. He did all that - and more.
A dozen years after becoming Cornell's Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey, Schafer called the former Big Red captain home, appointing Jones as Associate Head Coach prior to the 2008-09 season, spearheading three ultra-successful seasons on the ice for the Big Red that included a combined 59-34-11 record, two NCAA Tournament appearances, and one ECAC Hockey Tournament title.
Combined with 13 great years at Ohio State before his return to Cornell, Jones soon earned a well-deserved opportunity to become a first-time head coach at league rival Clarkson — a move away from Cornell that made him the ideal candidate to replace Schafer on the Lynah Rink bench.
More than 500 wins and a trophy case full of championships later, that timeline will be ready to repeat itself. Schafer, the Big Red's legendary head coach for nearly three decades, has announced his plan to retire and Jones again waits in the wings. Like in 1990, Jones' turn is still a year away.
On Thursday afternoon, Cornell Athletics jointly announced Schafer's intent to retire following the upcoming 2024-25 season and that Jones will return to the Big Red coaching staff as Associate Head Coach this winter before transitioning into the 13th head coach in program history.
A Mount Rushmore of Cornell hockey would be incomplete without Schafer, whose legend is every bit as impressive as his real-life accomplishments. Ask anyone to tell a story about his competitiveness, and you'll get a Paul Bunyan-esque reply. Ask about the department's noon pickup hoops games that he serves as unofficial commissioner for and you'll hear about the foul calls anytime he gets within sight of the basket. Ask about the infamous Harvard stick-breaking incident his senior year and the story grows every time it's told, like it has gone through a puffed-up game of telephone.
Did he break the stick over his bare head? He did not, he was wearing a helmet. Was the stick on fire? It was not. Did it fire up the Lynah Faithful? It did. Did it help the Big Red get off to a big start? It did not, as Harvard raced out to a 4-0 lead 7:08 into the game. Did it help Cornell to a win over its fierce rival? It didn't hurt, as the Big Red won 6-5 on the strength of two third-period goals in one of the most exciting (and satisfying) victories ever at Lynah.
Since taking over as head coach at his alma mater in the summer of 1995, Schafer has led Cornell to great heights. Since arriving on campus as a freshman 13 years earlier, Schafer has bled Big Red.
Schafer's career record of 542-229-111 ranks in the top 25 in college hockey history and top six among active head coaches entering the 2024-25 campaign in both victories and winning percentage. His 542 triumphs are the second-most by any Cornell coach with a single team, trailing another legendary former Big Red head coach in softball's Dick Blood (623).
His teams have collected 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2003 Frozen Four — the program's first since the 1979-80 campaign. The Big Red has registered 14 20-win seasons and 17 campaigns with at least a .600 win percentage during Schafer's tenure. In ECAC Hockey play, the Schafer-led Big Red has won at least 10 conference games on 23 occasions, including the last seven seasons in which the Big Red has competed.
Two dozen of his student-athletes have gone on to play in the NHL and many more have played professional hockey at varying levels. To a man, they credit Schafer and their experience at Cornell with helping them achieve their lifelong dream.
While the accumulated stats and numbers jump off the page, Schafer's commitment to the community is every bit as impressive. From coordinating mentorship opportunities at local schools to encouraging year-round service projects, Schafer has been completely engaged in making sure Big Red hockey does more than just increase campus spirit — it improves everything it touches.
A half-dozen times since 2009, Schafer has coordinated members of his program as well as his Catholic parish to take service trips to the Dominican Republic as part of the Portal de Belen Foundation, aiding impoverished residents by installing water filters and latrines, helping build house foundations and baseball diamonds, and providing laptop computers for teachers and students at a special needs school.
Casey Jones has always been blessed with great vision.
On the ice, he seemingly was always two passes ahead of opposing skaters while playing wherever he was placed on the ice – from defenseman to center to winger. Outside of competition, his vision extended to seeing the potential in young men and understanding where they could go in the future – and how he could get them there, both in hockey and in life.
That vision had never led him astray, so when he got the call to return to Cornell, maybe he saw the eventuality of today.
That call didn't come this past week, but rather in August of 1991, a little more than a year after Jones walked the Cornell stage to receive his degree in Business Management. Despite being drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 10th round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Jones had decided to start his professional career in the classroom instead of on the ice. He was playing semi-pro hockey and teaching in his hometown of Témiscaming, Québec, following in the footsteps of his educator parents, when his college coach, Brian McCutcheon, made him an offer to become a part-time assistant coach for the Big Red.
That phone call, just shy of 33 years ago, began a career in coaching that set the stage for this turn of events.
There's little question why Schafer and Dr. Nicki Moore, the Meakem & Smith Director of Athletics & Physical Education, zeroed in on Jones as the next leader of Big Red men's hockey.
In addition to his Cornell ties, Jones has made a name for himself during his 13 years as head coach of the Big Red's league rival in Potsdam, N.Y. He sported a 234-185-56 (.552) record with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and five top-three finishes in the ECAC Hockey standings. His 2019 team topped the Big Red for the ECAC Hockey Tournament title leading to him being named ECAC Hockey's Tim Taylor Coach of the Year. His 2020 team was poised for another trip to the NCAA Tournament before COVID-19 canceled its season prematurely after a 23-8-3 start and his teams ranked in the top 16 of the PairWise rankings for five consecutive seasons from 2017-22. In all, 11 Clarkson players have been chosen in the NHL Entry Draft during Jones' time with four going onto play in the NHL.
As a player, his vision and unselfishness made him a standout. In high school, Jones excelled in everything - he was the team MVP in basketball, a badminton, tennis and golf champion and an all-star volleyball player in addition to leading his bantam and midget hockey teams to championships. At Cornell, he scored 112 points (30 goals and 82 assists) in 110 career contests, ranking in the top 20 in school history in assists upon graduation. The four-year letter winner was an honorable mention All-Ivy pick as a sophomore.
Schafer, the assistant coach at Cornell during the four years Jones spent on the ice, is now planning to hand the clipboard over following a highly anticipated 2024-25 campaign.
"In the business, he's my best friend," Jones said of Schafer after his Clarkson team won the 2019 ECAC Championship with a 3-2 win over the Big Red, arguably his biggest win at the helm of the Golden Knights. "He's a guy I lean on the most. It goes back to the fact that he coached me for four years at Cornell and I've had a long-time relationship with him. If I was going to lose, I'd pick him, but I was the winner tonight. I just have the utmost respect for him."
"He's gone up to Clarkson and he's done a tremendous job with that program," Schafer said following that contest. "He's turned it around, he leads it with class, their teams play hard, they play the right way, he recruits the right way, he's ethical and loyal."
It sounds a lot like Mike Schafer could also be describing … Mike Schafer. And that's the best possible way of re-introducing Casey Jones to the Lynah Faithful.
As both Schafer and Jones, along with the staff, are fully focused on coaching and supporting the 2024-25 team and recruiting, there will be no immediate public recognition of Schafer's planned May 2025 retirement, or of Jones' projected succession. At the appropriate times, both of these events will be celebrated with the Big Red Hockey community.
