University of North Dakota Athletics

University of North Dakota head hockey coach Dane Jackson announced on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 the hiring of former UND captain and defenseman Matt Smaby as the program’s associate head coach.
 
Smaby returns to North Dakota after a successful, four-year run with the Waterloo Blackhawks in the USHL as the organization’s head coach. As the bench boss, he guided the Blackhawks to the postseason in each of his four seasons and won over 100 games in that stretch.
 
In 2024-25, Smaby led Waterloo on a historic postseason run that included defeating the league’s top regular season team Lincoln before coming within an overtime goal of winning the second Clark Cup in the organization’s history with a 3-2 series loss to Muskegon.
 
Smaby has also enjoyed success at the international level, working on the coaching staff for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge over the last three seasons. He won gold as an assistant in 2022 before taking over as head coach and capturing bronze in 2023 and gold once again in 2024.
 
He got his start in the coaching world at North Dakota, serving as a volunteer assistant coach from 2017-19 while completing his degree. After his time at UND, Smaby got his first full-time coaching position with EC Red Bull Salzburg in Austria where he coached the league’s second-best penalty kill at 85.3%.
 
Smaby played at UND from 2003-04 through 2005-06 and captained the 2005-06 squad to a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four. After leading the program to a pair of Frozen Four appearances and a Western Collegiate Hockey Association title in his three seasons, Smaby went on to play in 122 games over four years with the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning before winning multiple championships in Europe.
 
Smaby and his wife, Jenna, reside in Grand Forks, N.D, with their two children Sloane and Jack. 
 
THE MATT SMABY FILE
Position: Associate Head Coach
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
Education: North Dakota (2019)
 
CAREER IN HOCKEY
AS A COACH
2021-25: Waterloo (USHL, Head Coach)
2023, 2024: Team USA (World Junior A Challenge, Head Coach)
2022: Team USA (World Junior A Challenge, Assistant Coach)
2020-21: Grand Forks Bantam AA (Head Coach)
2019-20: EC Red Bull Salzburg (DEL, Assistant Coach)
2017-19: North Dakota (NCAA, Volunteer Assistant Coach)
 
AS A PLAYER
2001-03: Shattuck St. Mary’s (USHS-Prep)
2003-06: North Dakota (NCAA)
2006-11: Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)/Norfolk Admirals (AHL)
2011-13: Syracuse Crunch (AHL)/Norfolk Admirals (AHL)
2013-17: EHC Red Bull München (DEL)