Apr. 3—GRAND FORKS — UND athletic director Bill Chaves offered glimpses Thursday into the reasoning and timeline behind removing Brad Berry as men's hockey coach.
Chaves spoke to the media at Ralph Engelstad Arena following the introductory press conference for Berry's replacement, Dane Jackson.
It marked Chaves' first public comments since he let go of Berry on March 23 — two days after UND's season ended in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff semifinals to Western Michigan. UND missed the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.
"I evaluate programs on a constant basis," Chaves said when asked about the timeline on his decision on Berry. "I don't think there's one day you wake up and you say, 'This has to happen.' We're in a unique time in Division-I athletics. I continue to have conversations with all of our sports about what's next. It's not wash, rinse, repeat. What's the plan? What's the new plan? What's a plan moving forward? The more I kind of got into it, I thought this might be the time you move forward with different leadership as we confront a new frontier."
The meeting between athletic director and head hockey coach, in what Chaves deemed standard operating procedure, came on Sunday, March 23 — a conversation that ultimately led to Chaves' decision to move on from Berry.
"It was clear that a new direction needed to happen," Chaves said.
Berry's UND teams won five league titles in 10 years and the 2016 NCAA national championship. The program also missed the NCAA Tournament four times during his tenure.
"We've got high expectations for our program," Chaves said. "There's no doubt about it. Some in the hockey world would argue (they're) impossibly high. But we have high expectations. We're going to continue with high expectations. One thing we never want to do is reframe our expectations."
Chaves seemed to indicate the decision wasn't preconceived before the Sunday meeting.
"You never know," he said. "Much like a (new coaching) search, I never know what's going to transpire until a conversation occurs."
UND President Andrew Armacost was kept informed during the process, Chaves said.
"I'm always making sure I'm talking to Dr. Armacost," Chaves said. "You don't make a decision in a vacuum."
With one year remaining on his contract, UND owes Berry $493,500. The sum was considered affordable, Chaves said, because of a strong financial year.
"We're in a point where we're fortunate," Chaves said, "it's not just something that is budgeted for, per se, but as life goes on in intercollegiate athletics, you have a budget, but sometimes you're fortunate where revenues exceed expenses.
"This is the business of Division-I athletics. When you move in a different direction, you've baked this in to some degree ... not necessarily that you baked in the decision, but you just don't know what's going to happen. Fortunately, we have some reserve dollars and could move forward on some really good things that happened from a revenue standpoint, so we're able to pay that out."
Berry would have been entering the final season of his contract in 2025-26. Generally, administrators are leery of allowing a head coach to enter a final year of a contract, because it can hurt recruiting.
When asked if he held a blanket belief on coaches entering a final year of a contract, Chaves said his views have changed with the changing national landscape.
"Earlier in my career, I would think that going into your last year is probably, maybe, used against you to some degree ...