"This one is for the parents and recruits that think they can speak on the players behalf of how he was as a coach. You didn’t have to go through it. You weren’t in the practices or games. He did not know how to run a successful hockey team. He used the team budget to pay for materials to help be successful, but never knew how to apply those materials in order to make a successful team, just a successful recruiting tactic. I was hoping to grow as a player when moving up to the college level, however, I sunk dramatically with how this program was ran when still putting in the same effort as I always have."

"First I just want to remind everyone that if you are a parent or were just a recruit you don’t know Tom like his players did. Chatting in the lobby or on a campus tour he loved to put on a face and be nice. However the coach he was at practice, games, and on the road is not the pretty picture he tries to sell you. After coming to Trine, players would see his true colors pretty quickly. Playing for Tom made me hate hockey and hate myself. He destroyed my confidence, self-esteem, and love for the game. Tom would often talk bad or make jokes about players to other girls on the team, acting unprofessional all together. Tom was all about politics and giving everything to the players whose parents he would drink with on road weekends. Regardless of bad grades and attitudes Tom was always going to have favorites that could do no wrong. He was not effective at coaching and all he really did was bag skate for at least one practice a week or have his assistant do the coaching. Reading all the other reviews reminds me of what me and my teammates went through being coached by him. So much love and joy lost, and potential to love college hockey destroyed. As a team we often felt like so much of our potential was being wasted by the lack of productive practices and toxic team culture Tom created. "

"Tom was a poor choice for Trine from the beginning. His lack of knowledge of the game is astounding. He would make a mediocre youth house league coach. After six years in development, his teams are still in the bottom 15% of all NCAA DIII teams - and about 20% of those teams are 3 years old or younger. Evidence of his lack of program development happened just before his dismissal - a program begun a year after his trounced him 9-0. He is embarrassing to the players, university, and league. His coaching skills are nearly non existent, his game planning is poor, his treatment of players is awful. The university's decision to replace was first good thing to happen to the program since its inception."

"Tom is good person outside of the game. That said, he lacks understanding of leadership and lacks the ability to coach at the college level. His focus seems to be the optics of the program from a far rather than player development, player confidence and team culture. He communicates tough messages through sarcasm, more times than not, in front of other players. Hes dramatic in the lockerrom on gameday. Either angry or proud to the point of tears. Rather than focusing on actual in game adjustments, teaching and developing the message is typically that the players need to "work harder" or "dont care enough". Again, away from hockey, he is a good person but is not a leader of a college program"

"I wish I could feel bad for all of the negative comments but, truly Tom has given myself and a team full of girls a lifetime’s worth of confidence, anxiety, and overall mental health issues. To be completely honest, all Tom seemed to care about was his reputation and what the team looked like from the outside. As soon as I got into Trine Womens hockey, I fell out of love with the sport. Before games, on the road, and during practices, Tom would verbally abuse me and a handful of teammates. Everyone felt like they were walking on egg shells. His coaching style was far worse than any other team I’ve been on. While he may seem nice to parents and to recruits, he's completely different as a coach. "

"I have personally known Tom as a parent. I think he has done some amazing things with this program! He is one of the nicest people I have ever met! This breaks my heart the way everyone is ripping him apart. "

"Tom is by far the WORST coach I have had in 15 years of playing the sport. He acted like he cared throughout the recruiting process but all of that went out the door once on campus. Practice focused on quantity over quality of ice time and was a complete joke. All of that money put into a program that has failed season after season after season. He absolutely ruined hockey for me and wasted so much of my time and money. A disgrace."

"The worst coach ever. Mini mite players run better systems than we ever did! If you want to bag skate every practice and do a 60 second drill every Monday and Tuesday then Tom is your guy. Ran the same power play system for the past 4 years and wonders why he was 0 and 55. Has his assistant coach run all of his practices. Film? Never heard of it. 4 big screen tv in the locker room and you would have to wipe the dust off to even use them! Spent more time watching “mandatory” team bonding movies on it than where the breakdown in the D zone was. Don’t forget about academics, if you are failing some classes, no worries he will still put you on first line! Stick to the dog breeding business, Tom. "

"bad coach not for me wasnt good at communicating and does not care about players"

"Tom is a terrible coach. He is all about himself and does not care about his players. He has no business coaching any women’s hockey and should hang his skates up. "

"Coach Tom is absolutely amazing. I had been on campus for only a few days and found out pretty quickly that this particular university wasn't for me. I ended up de-committing and leaving to play elsewhere. Tom was beyond supportive through that entire process never was he angry or visibly upset about my decision he showed compassion and genuinely wanted me to be in the best place for me even if it wasn't at Trine. I can't say enough good things about him but the kindness he showed in that moment speaks volumes."

"Very honest and direct coach "

"Poor coaching skills, not professional"

"Tom is not a good coach. He knows very little about the game and even less about the needs of his players. I played for Trine University as part of the inaugural team and throughout my college career. Tom did not know how to run a productive practice or bench. He never shortened the bench, he didn't pair players based on performance (rather on who was friends with who), and his only "motivation" tactic was to get so emotionally proud of us he cried in the lockerroom before we headed out to a big game. At one point a skills coach was brought into the Trine organization and instead of using this to our full advantage, Tom was almost envious of his knowledge and skill and never implemented these new drills / skills into team practices. Film reviews were useless because Tom just did not know what to point out in praise or criticism. The only player meetings occured at the end if the season or when there was a larger problem - no regular in seasonal maintenance. We had no plays, only a couple systems that didn't work very well, but "it was our fault for not working hard enough to make them work". Above all else, he did not care about the well being of his players. We had girls facing mental health issues and challenging academic work, however instead of working with these players he punished and eventually cut them from the team. This is not someone you want behind your bench. "

"Better off as a manager. Does not respect players behind closed doors. Talks about private conversations with players to other players. Makes fun of playing time and skill to athletes faces and to their teammates. Very good at equipment stuff and managing. Also his hockey IQ is nonexistent and can’t run structured practices. Should not be coaching at a high level. Also makes inappropriate comments and should not be working with female athletes. Can be a nice guy, but not what you want nor need for a success for head coach."

"Terrible coach! Dishonest & disrespectful. Zero respect for his players. Will talk great to their face then turn around and talk crap about his players to other players on the team. Whoever’s parents he hangs out with is the player that will get the most playing time. "

"Terrible coach. Plays favorites. Does not respect his players. Inappropriate interactions with players. "

"Coach Tom was a great coach and mentor on and off the ice. He cares about you as an individual and cares about your education and future. "