Conqu'ring Heroes 207 - Brandon Naurato Transcript
9/17/2026 7:53:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Brian Boesch • 00:00
We'll talk with hockey head coach Brandon Naurato to preview the upcoming season, which, believe it or not, begins in just three weeks, October second and third. A home and home with Bowling Green. But first, our weekly campus rundown. We begin with women's soccer. The Wolverines bounce back from a tough loss at Northwestern to earn a two nothing victory at Illinois this past Sunday. Michigan's two goals came via penalty kicks, while Malia Zillman recorded her second clean sheet of the season on amassing three saves in the process. So the Wolverines move to three one and three overall and they're one and one in Big Ten play with a big one on the horizon Sunday on the road at rival Michigan State. Here's Zillman.
Malia Zillman • 00:40
The key to keeping Illinois off the scoreboard was everybody put in one hundred percent of our effort. Our forwards were high pressing, our midfielders were holding it down in the middle, our defenders weren't letting any shots get on frame and everything was very, very concise and compact and everyone was on the same page and we looked really good that game. It was a really good game and I think leading into state we're just going to keep that momentum going day in and day out of practice. We're going to work. We have a nice little break. We don't have a game this Thursday and I think we're going to go into state looking really fresh on Sunday. Just going to go through and play how we play and get our three points.
Brian Boesch • 01:18
Indeed, a one o'clock clash with the Spartans coming up in East Lansing Sunday. It was great visiting with Chaka Daley, men's soccer head coach last week here on Conqu'ring Heroes. His short handed bunch gave fifth ranked Indiana everything it could handle back on Friday in Ann Arbor, but the Hoosiers did escape with a one nothing win. The one game a week cadence continues for the Wolverines. They're at UCLA on Friday night, seven o' clock local, ten o' clock here in the Eastern time zone. After splitting a trip in Tampa falling in four sets to TCU before sweeping host South Florida, Michigan volleyball has a busy weekend at home. Thursday at seven o'. Clock. Michigan hosts Eastern at Crisler Saturday at noon. You can enjoy a little volleyball before Michigan and UTEP at the Big House with free admission against Cornell at Cliff Keen. And they'll stick around.
Brian Boesch • 02:08
Cornell will for another match Sunday at one o'clock. Field hockey is on the road for a pair of games this weekend. Kristi Gannon Fisher's squad three and two on the season after most recently falling to Cal on Friday. One nothing takes on Michigan State Friday at four and then they head from East Lansing to Mount Pleasant for a clash with Central Michigan Sunday at one. Speaking of East Lansing, women's cross country opened its season with a strong showing at the Spartan Invitational. The Wolverines finished third place out of twenty four teams. Back on Friday on the links, the women's golf team finished sixth out of sixteen teams at the Badger Invitational up in Madison which finished up Tuesday, a three day event. Thomasine Bartholdson finished second individually, a five under two eleven, two strokes behind Iowa State's Emma Zhang.
Brian Boesch • 02:55
The men's golf team's win streak came to an end. Great stuff from RJ Arone on that two event win streak that the Wolverines had. But Arone's seventy three, seventy four, seventy three. Not enough for Michigan to contend as the Wolverines finished fourteenth out of eighteen teams. Lastly, women's tennis competed at the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill on Friday and Sunday. Four competitors for the Wolverines, all with at least one singles victory and Gabriella Lindgren went three, zero to lead the Wolverines. That's a spin around campus as we sit here in the middle of September. Busy time and it's only going to get busier with Yost starting up with some hockey games soon. High expectations yet again for Brandon Naurato's team excited to visit with him. Coming up next on Conqu'ring Heroes.
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Jeff Laurence • 03:46
Welcome to your one stop podcast for all things Michigan athletics. Updates on every team on campus and interviews with players and coaches are all on the way. This is Conqu'ring Heroes. Here's your host, Brian Boesch.
Brian Boesch • 04:01
Coach, appreciate you stopping by. What's year five sound like to you?
Brandon Naurato • 04:04
Yeah, thanks for having me Brian. Just really excited. I feel like just been treading water for five years in an exciting way. Just the change in landscape the chl, you know, old staff members, new staff members, old old players, new players. It's been fun the relationships you build with the seniors and the guys that sign and move on and you feel like how am I going to do it without these guys that we've built up this trust and communication throughout the years in an awesome way and, and then now a new group of guys come in and just exciting times this time of the year.
Brian Boesch • 04:40
NIL was something that isn't then year one for you. What it has become with Rev share and all of that and and this time last year you were trying to navigate what the CHL eligibility for college players would look like. We'll talk about how well you've Done in that regard. What have you learned in the last twelve months on that CHL specific side?
Brandon Naurato • 04:59
Yeah, I think the beauty of the CHL is similar to junior hockey in the past, before those guys was eligible is it's just a group of sixteen to twenty one year old kids that, you know, they've just opened up three new leagues and sixty plus new teams. So the talent pool is, is that much bigger. And I think it's exciting for college hockey. I feel like our team's deeper than it's ever been, but I think you can say that about every team in the Big ten and then across college hockey in general, so. So more opportunities for guys to play college hockey. I feel like it's growing every year and growing through the roo. Just the talent pool, but the on ice product. And I think it's great for our game and excited about the future.
Brian Boesch • 05:40
You look at this roster, getting ready to start the season in early October, so many players back. Why do you think that is? What about the culture has, has set you and this program up to bring back the talent that could be playing in the NHL or elsewhere next year?
Brandon Naurato • 05:55
Yeah, well, good dudes only isn't just like a line. It's. It's, you know, why did all these guys come back? I feel like twelve of them could have signed. And we know that a couple years ago it was the opposite and still great players and great people. You know, several guys ended up signing and you kind of saw what that did to our team. And then we learned from that pain and learned from some of that success. Guys want to win. That's why they're back. That's the short answer, is they want to win and they want to do it with their best friends. They're having the time of their life at Michigan. They know they're getting better from a development standpoint, style of play and, and they had a taste of it last year and we feel like we, you know, we played a great program and a great team in Denver and all credit to them, but we feel like we deserved more with how that game went.
Brandon Naurato • 06:43
So even when you do it the right way and go through the process the whole year and work and you're number one and you should do it, sometimes the hockey gods aren't on your side and how do we, you know, leave no doubt when we go into this season. And I just feel like our guys are so hungry and they're so hungry to do it together, do it for Michigan and to do it for each other because of what they experienced last year. And then the cool thing is we're bringing in seven freshmen. You know, Nick Seamus won a Memorial cup in Saginaw, obviously. Cam Reid winning one in Kitchener, Landon DuPont winning the championship in the WHL and playing in a Memorial cup final. These guys are winners and they've got some experience coming in as well. And I. I could go down the line, but those guys stand out. So everyone's hungry to help Michigan get to that next step, and it's far away.
Brandon Naurato • 07:34
And I sound like a coach talking about the process, but that's all that matters. It's. It's us versus us the entire year. We're not thinking about other teams. It's about Michigan's style of play and Michigan's identity and what goes on in this building.
Brian Boesch • 07:48
And how does that help when you're leading up to the season, leading up to a weekend series, to know that there is so much competition? You might be highly touted outside of Yost, but if you don't bring it in practice, in games, you might have to take a step back because of so much talent around.
Brandon Naurato • 08:05
Yeah, you just answered the question. I mean, Michigan's always got a target on their back, especially the hockey program and doing what we did last year and looking to continue that, I think that target is going to be even bigger. So in a great way, like we get everyone's best every single game. There's no off nights, especially in the Big Ten and the depth of that league and the talent of the players. So I think iron sharpens iron, and it just makes us that much better every day in practice.
Brian Boesch • 08:31
Let's talk about a few of the key players. Garrett Schifsky named the captain, how have you seen him lean into that leadership role since he was named it back in the spring?
Brandon Naurato • 08:39
Yeah, I think G and all these guys in the leadership group, like that's why they are have a letter on their. On their chest and, and even some other leaders that don't. They're just being themselves. So I don't think you have to change because you have the C. G's done a great job and all those guys to start the season. And then we know something's going to come up. There's going to be some type of adversity that we're going to have to deal with, whether it's injuries or whatever. And more times than not, it's out of your control. So how do we handle that and have love as a group together to get through it?
Brian Boesch • 09:09
Alternate captains, Ben Robertson, Michael Hage, Nick Moldenhauer, and then a freshman in Asher Barnett, particularly with him. But that entire group, how did they emerge in a way to show that they deserved that alternate opportunity?
Brandon Naurato • 09:23
Yeah, Barnett's gonna be a sophomore this year, but all those guys like Hager as a junior and then the rest of the guys as seniors, it's just who they are as people. And everyone leads differently. We encourage them. They've earned that letter on their jersey, but we encourage them to be their themselves and lead the way that they do. And whether that's vocal or proving it on the ice or a combination of both. But the biggest thing about being leader is you have to have your stuff together to take care of other people. And whether you're a coach, you know, a mother, a father, a business owner, if you're in any leadership position, you know, it comes at a cost. And you have to deal with things that are completely out of your control or you had nothing to do with. But you're the leader. When guys are going through tough times for the players and their leadership group, like, you've got to lift those guys up when guys are struggling, when guys are in a slump or another lineup, like, it's your job to pick them up whether you have a letter on your jersey or not.
Brandon Naurato • 10:22
And I think that's just part of our culture is, you know, wanting other people to have success and feeling good for them. And when they're down in the dumps, lifting them up.
Brian Boesch • 10:31
And apologies on Asher. Yeah, as a freshman to show that. Pretty impressive. Speaking of a guy who, in his first year at Michigan really shined was goalkeeper Jack Ivankovic. Where have you seen him take strides this offseason, getting ready, being the only collegiate player on Team Canada at Worlds and all that he did here for this team last year.
Brandon Naurato • 10:50
Yeah, Jack's such a big game player, like, just quiet confidence. His swagger that feeds through the rest of our team and allows us to play with more confidence and swagger in those games. You can see it every day in practice. I think going through his injury last year or just growing up as a young man, like, not that he didn't do it well, but he's realizing to be the best of the best and play in the National Hockey League and help Michigan win, really taking care of his body and not leaving anything to chance or leaving no doubt, as I mentioned earlier, that, you know, I'm going to do my prehab stuff and my recovery stuff so that I feel great about, you know, the load that I'm going to have to take on As a starting goalie.
Brian Boesch • 11:31
Who else has stood out here this off season? A lot of well known names coming back. Will Horcoth, Jaden Peron, and then Henry Mews, who was injured early last season. Anything about those guys or others who have really stood out? As we sit here a few weeks away from the.
Brandon Naurato • 11:45
All these guys, I mean, we watch practice, like, it's just been so intense. Like, we know the number of draft picks or the talent that we have in our team, but I'm just so excited about the people and like every single guy, like coaching them up and they want the information, they want to fail forward. They want to know how they can have an impact. Like, they're just starving for information and to be coached and that's what great players want. Henry Mews came in my office. We were meeting as a coaching staff a couple of weeks ago, and he finally got cleared and, and it was very emotional. I mean, nine months of coming back from that type of injury and all the work, like, his body looks completely different. And you know, what he's done in the gym with Joe and, and you know how it is. Like, guys are on the road, you're by yourself, there's some dark times when you know that your family's not with you.
Brandon Naurato • 12:31
And gosh, he's grown up so much as a young man in this past nine months and just super excited for him to get back at it. And he's a special player, but he's a special person. And how much he's grown, he's. You could go right down the list on every single guy of how they've changed their bodies this spring and summer and, and what comes with that is the confidence mentally to know that I've put in the work and I've taken a step and I have something to prove to my peers, to the Big Ten, and to the rest of college hockey.
Brian Boesch • 13:01
Brandon Naurato, Michigan men's hockey head coach, here with us on Conqu'ring Heroes. You alluded to Landon. Landon DuPont, highly regarded prospect, committed after a great run in the chl. Take us through that process and what he brings to this program.
Brandon Naurato • 13:16
Yeah, it's, it's, you know, when we're recruiting Landon, like, the thing with Michigan is we've had first overall, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, you know, first round NHL picks. So we've been through this. And what I'm most impressed by him is what he's like as a person. He's just blue collar. Like, you could tell, like how he was raised from, from Mickey and Aaron. That They've done such a great job of keeping him grounded. Even talking to Chris Lazary the other day, we were talking about one of his players that got exceptional status in the Ontario Hockey League. So like, Landon's had to deal with this since fifteen years old and it's, it's probably not fair to kids this young to have to deal with this type of media, but how he's done it is extremely impressive. And he just wants to be one of the guys and he's here to help Michigan win and we're here to help him develop and been a great teammate.
Brandon Naurato • 14:09
But like I look at, Landon is just one of the guys and I think that's the way he wants it. And I know he's excited just like the rest of the freshman class to get out for that first game at Yost. And the first week of practice has been a lot of fun.
Brian Boesch • 14:22
You mentioned Chris Lazary on staff now with Rob Rassey taking over as a head coach at Harvard. What does Rob's departure mean and how can Chris help add to what has always been such a good, well functioning staff you've had?
Brandon Naurato • 14:36
Yeah, first thing with Rob is just we knew each other a little bit before I hired him here, but became very, very close. That's my guy. And just so, so happy for him and proud of him. He's going to do a great job at Harvard in building the culture and their style of play over there and he's built for that program and they're going to be really happy with that hire. So happy for him. So excited about Chris Lasry. We've known each other for years. I, I did player development and skills and Saginaw for a few years and got to know him and we've just always kept in touch. He's just a guy that I have so much respect for him as a hockey mind and as a coach, but I feel like it's because we view the game the same way. The best part about him is he's a great dad, he's a great family man, a great husband, but he's a connector with these young men and he gains trust through relationships with them.
Brandon Naurato • 15:27
And he knows his stuff, like right away. It's just this staff's been a lot of fun. Everyone's fitting in a lot, a lot of laughs and just excited to get to the rink every day and get better. And then with Andrew Brewer, our new GM and chief of staff, like, number one reason for him coming in here is the change of landscape. And it's not just a GM to do nil contracts and stuff like that. He's, he's so much more than that. What, what he's built without getting in, without, into too much depth on the back end of our business, but on the back end of player development, he's basically sucked the brains out of every coach on our staff and the players and through AI built some really cool stuff to where we're just tracking everything and on the ice with guys in the mornings and then for practice and like it's just like an incubator of development as a staff and as a team for us to get better as individuals every single day.
Brandon Naurato • 16:18
So those guys just bring so much to the table. And the best part about it selfishly for me is Andrew Brewer has allowed me to spend more time with our guys, still overseeing everything that's going on with the program on and off the ice. But to get out of the mundane day to day stuff that most head coaches have to deal with so that I can do what I love and what I'm great at, which is spending time with the players and the development and the style of play I think is that's our secret sauce, is allowing everyone on our staff to be aces in their places and do what they're great at and what gets them out of bed every day in order to have an impact on these young student athletes.
Brian Boesch • 16:56
You use the word business a lot and we hear program and team and all that, but I hear that from you more than anywhere else. When you were out of college hockey, when you were building your way up, did you ever think that you would in essence be treating your role as part CEO in a business because it feels like that's the vibe and the approach you take.
Brandon Naurato • 17:17
Yeah, it's actually a perfect. I don't like talking about myself, but it's a perfect segue for me is my first coaching job was with Michigan and then to run and be a head coach to run a program and have that opportunity. That's what I did with my own hockey business back in the day. I was educating myself on player development and the skills and all the individual stuff on the ice. But at the same time I had, you know, twelve full time salary staff members on under me and another twenty five to thirty contractors that I had no clue what I was doing. But I was thrown in the fire and figuring it out and similar to when I started here, there's no playbook and I had a staff of all new people. So you just figure it out. But. But it still comes back to the core competencies of you have to have the right people on the bus to have success. And we, when I say aces in their places, it could be anything from Kevin Rider and recruiting and how he manages relationships to Matt Deschamps and how he is as a D developer to Kristy McNeil and how she manages our media.
Brandon Naurato • 18:20
Like, let everyone do what they do well and put them in a spot to do what they. They love to do every day. So. And then from business doesn't just mean financials, but it's relevant with nil and budgets and operating expenses and donors and, you know, friends of the program and the alumni network. It's. It's way too much for one person to juggle all those balls. You are going to drop balls. And we've had a ton of success on the ice since I've been here. We're still looking to take the next step, but, like, when different balls have dropped over the years, we've tried to plug people in so that they don't. But it's not just to juggle them. It's. It's. It's to make it elite in every area. And, you know, we're never going to be there. We're always going to be striving to get better and we're never going to be perfect. But, yeah, I'm trying to be. I'm trying to be humble.
Brandon Naurato • 19:11
We're in a very good spot. We have the right people. I've never been more excited. I know after five years, I know exactly what I walked into on august seventh as an interim, where we are today and the success that we've had and then where we're going next. And I couldn't be more excited about the people we have in this program, the players and the culture overall.
Brian Boesch • 19:31
You said you don't want to talk about yourself, and then you listed like eight people before you talked about yourself. You're humble. It's all right. That's well done. Two more. I know you don't look ahead, but a really cool event and an opportunity just was announced recently. The game at Lambeau against Wisconsin. How did that come to be? And why is it important for you and this team to perform in an iconic venue? And a really unique, different thing.
Brandon Naurato • 19:53
Yeah, it's awesome. You know, it's not. A coach like Mike Hastings brought something up to me, and when we were in Naples, and it's like, oh, my gosh, I'd love to do that. And then it kind of just goes away. And you, you know, there's a lot of opportunities like that. You hope that it, it comes to fruition. And it did. Just got announced last week and we're pumped. We had such a great time at Wrigley a couple years ago and the tradition similar to a Yoast in that venue with the Cubs to go to, to Lambeau with the packers and, and what they've done over the years and, and the tradition of, of that program and that field, it's, it's going to be something special. So I'm sure some guys hopefully score some goals and, and they'll have some cool celebrations. Just like Michael Hage, you know, sliding into first after his goal at Wrigley. But it's always fun. Like you get there a day early.
Brandon Naurato • 20:40
It's, it's, it's an opportunity to spend time with the staff and the players and their families. Hopefully can get like a family skate in between games. We're playing a great opponent in Wisconsin, you know, at Lambeau. We're just going to take it all in and then it's just another game. Like enjoy the experience. But it's just one game in the Big Ten. It's not the end all be all. Obviously we want to win every game, but we're just excited about the opportunity to do so.
Brian Boesch • 21:04
Lastly, opener is October second here at Yost against Bowling Green. What's at the top of your to do list between now and then?
Brandon Naurato • 21:11
Just continue to get these guys prepped. Like, the beauty of this year is, you know, we've brought in several freshmen, but we had fifteen new players last year. Like, we need to teach them how to play Michigan hockey. We have twenty returners now, so it's getting prepped to get to our identity as quickly as possible and then just make adjustments on the fly as the season goes on. But I think the twenty returners along with the staff, they're the best teachers to the seven new guys. And then knowing where we're at, how we want to play, and then what are the next steps to leave no doubt so that we can have success and win that last game of the year.
Brian Boesch • 21:47
Year five Head Coach CEO Brandon Naurato. Appreciate you, coach.
Brandon Naurato • 21:50
Thank you so much Brian.
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Brian Boesch • 21:51
It should be a fantastic season for Brandon Naurato and Michigan hockey coming up as mentioned off the top. Bowling Green in Ann Arbor Friday, october second for the opener. Michigan will head about an hour south to meet up with the Falcons on Saturday. Then Alaska Anchorage. The second weekend of the season before one heck of a battle in mid October. Michigan at Denver Maize in blue looking for some revenge. All right, that's it for me. Brian Bush. Thanks to Kristy McNeil for all her great work and thanks to Sydney Miller for her assistance in getting some thoughts from Malia Zillman. On the women's soccer side, I'm Brian Boesch. Appreciate you following along. We'll be back next week with another edition of Conqu'ring Heroes. Go Blue.
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Brian Boesch • 22:42
Thanks for listening to Conqu'ring Heroes, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast network, M GO Blue Podcasts. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
