Greg “Boom” May, who led the Augsburg men’s hockey team to two NCAA Division III national tournament berths in his two seasons as head coach, has announced his resignation to accept a position as associate head coach of the Minnesota’s women’s team.
The Gophers also announced Mitch Baker will be an assistant coach and current staff member Jess Scott, who most recently served as an interim assistant coach and as director of operations, will become a full-time assistant coach as well.
“I am excited to add these three incredible people and coaches to our staff. Each of them brings wonderful experience that will help our players and program be the best that it can be,” Minnesota head coach Brad Frost said in a statement. “Boom, Mitch and Jess are all student-athlete focused, believe in a strong culture and will give our players the best opportunity to have a meaningful experience and create champions for life. I want to thank the leadership in our athletic department for supporting our program and providing the resources to have four full-time coaches.”
A 2007 Augsburg graduate, May guided the Auggies to the MIAC regular-season championship and the NCAA Division III national semifinals in the 2021-22 season, and the MIAC playoff title and a national playoff berth in 2022-23. He was 41-15-2 in his two Auggie seasons.
“This decision was a very difficult one, and one that my family and I spent a lot of time on. I am and forever will be an Auggie. These last two years have been two of the greatest years I have had around a team,” May said.
The new position will be May’s second with the Golden Gophers, as he previously served for two seasons (2019-21) as the director of operations for Minnesota’s men’s hockey team. He also served in 2021 as director of athletics and activities at St. Thomas Academy high school, from 2016-19 as boys hockey coach and associate athletic director at the Blake School, and from 2014-16 as the boys’ hockey coach at Farmington (Minn.) High School.
“It is tremendously sad to see Greg go, but he did great things for us during the last two years,” said Augsburg athletic director Jeff Swenson. “He came in during a challenging time for our men’s hockey program and took it to great heights, with MIAC titles and a Frozen Four appearance. We wish him the best of luck at Minnesota. Once an Auggie, always an Auggie.”
May played collegiately at Augsburg and was a MIAC all-conference honoree. He graduated from Augsburg with a bachelor’s degree in health education and physical education and went on to earn a master’s degree in education leadership from Concordia-St. Paul.
Baker joins the Gophers staff after serving as the girls U19 head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minn., since 2021. Baker wrapped up his two seasons at the helm of the team with a winning percentage of .710, including a USA Hockey high school national championship in 2023.
Prior to his time at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Baker served as an assistant coach of the women’s hockey team at Union. He joined the program in 2016 and was on staff for roughly five years before leaving for his most recent position at Shattuck-St. Mary’s.
After graduating from Bethel in 2006, Baker remained at his alma mater for another nine years, serving as an assistant coach for the Royals men’s team from 2010 to 2011 and then worked with the women’s team as an assistant coach from 2007 to 2015.
Scott joined the Gophers in 2019 after spending three years as the head coach of the girls’ hockey program at Wayzata (Minn.) High School. She was named the Class AA head coach of the year in 2018 and received back-to-back Section 6AA coach of the year honors in 2018 and 2019. She was elected as president of the Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches Association in Feb. 2014 and served in the role until May 2018. After joining the Gophers, Scott served as the director of hockey operations for the United States U18 Women’s National Team that won the silver medal at the 2022 U18 IIHF World Championship and bronze in 2023.
Scott graduated from St. Thomas with a degree in sociology in 2004 and added a master of education in sport management from Minnesota in 2022. She played hockey for the Tommies in 2000-01, where she was All-MIAC and holds the school record for goals in a season.
Swenson said that the Augsburg athletic department’s goal is to secure a new coach as quickly as possible, via a national search.
