Jared Brown joined the Bronco hockey program as an assistant coach in July of 2023.
Brown played a key role in helping the program claim its first ever National Championship in 2024-25, as the Broncos defeated Boston University 6-2 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo. on April 12. WMU won a program-best and NCAA leading 34 games and had four All-NCHC honorees. Along with that, Alex Bump was named a First Team All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Under Brown's guidance, Western Michigan continued to dominate in all areas of the game, leading the nation in goals per game (3.98), scoring margin (+1.93) and winning percentage (.821). The Brown and Gold were also top-10 in the nation in penalty kill percentage, power-play percentage and scoring defense. The Broncos killed 42 consecutive penalties from Nov. 22 to Feb. 14.
WMU was ranked No. 1 in the final poll of the season, receiving every first-place vote available. It marked the second time in program history that the Brown and Gold reached No. 1 in the polls, with the other happening earlier in the 2024-25 campaign.
In his first season with the Broncos, Brown helped the team win 21 games and make a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. That marked the third straight season with 20 or more victories. Along with that, Brown played a key role in helping Luke Grainger and Sam Colangelo receive All-NCHC honors. Team wise, Western Michigan was No. 9 in the nation in goals per game and No. 15 in the nation in goals against per game. Eight players signed professional contracts following the season.
Brown came to the Broncos after spending three seasons coaching in the USHL and NAHL. He was on the bench as an assistant coach for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL from 2021-2023. Over his two years with the team, the RoughRiders were able to collect a 59-52 record, while making the playoffs in each season. Prior to his stint in Cedar Rapids, Brown was the assistant general manager and assistant coach for the New Mexico Ice Wolves of the NAHL for the 2020-21 season.
Before joining the Ice Wolves staff, Brown had a great playing career, playing professionally in the United States and Europe. He had a standout juniors career for the Lincoln Stars (2005-07) in the USHL, earning USHL First All-Star Team honors in 2006-2007 after tallying 71 points in 60 games. Brown then played four years at Northern Michigan University, where he totaled 83 points on 32 goals and 51 assists.
After his college career, Brown went on to play 11 years of professional hockey. Over the course of his professional career, Brown tallied 414 points on 148 goals and 266 assists. He also went to the playoffs eight times in his career, totaling 46 points on 18 goals and 28 assists. He collected various accolades throughout his 11-year professional career, including a spot on the CHL All-Rookie team in 2011-12 with the Quad City Mallards. Additionally, he was part of the 2017-18 MAC Budapest championship team in the Erste Liga in Hungary. During the postseason, he scored 20 points in 15 games.
Brown holds a bachelor's degree in health and physical education/fitness from Northern Michigan and is married to his wife, Emma.
