Bio

Zack Cisek joins Ferris State Hockey’s staff as the associate coach under head coach Brett Riley in his inaugural season with the Bulldogs. The former Miami University (Ohio) graduate spent the last three seasons with the RedHawks as an assistant coach.

During his coaching stint at Miami (Ohio) in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), Cisek was involved in virtually every facet of the program and played a major role in recruiting, especially players from Europe. He helped the RedHawks to statement wins over numerous top opponents, including Arizona State, Denver, St. Cloud State and North Dakota. Cisek also coached 50 NCHC All-Academic players, including 27 Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.

Prior to his time at Miami (Ohio), Cisek spent four seasons as part of Lake Superior State University’s coaching staff where he was an assistant coach for three years before becoming the associate head coach in 2021-22. He helped the Lakers to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1996, a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) tournament championship and 23 wins during the 2018-19 season.

While on the Lakers’ staff, Cisek was a key piece of the recruiting team, aided with goaltender development, assisted with video analysis, helped through the prescout process and oversaw special teams. He was also involved with summer youth camps hosted by the Lakers.

Cisek served on Notre Dame’s coaching staff in the 2017-18 season as a volunteer assistant coach with primary duties of goaltender development, film analysis and practice planning. The Fighting Irish were both Big 10 regular season and tournament champions and made a deep NCAA Tournament run to the national championship game behind Mike Richter Award winner and Big Ten Player of the Year Cale Morris.

Cisek’s first coaching job was with Miami (Ohio) where he served as a volunteer coach for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. Prior to his first coaching stint with the RedHawks, Cisek played two years of Division I hockey as a goaltender for Michigan State University. 

The Bulldog associate coach has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Michigan State and a master’s in kinesiology and health from Miami (Ohio). He was twice a member of the All-Big Ten Academic Team during his playing career with the Spartans.

Cisek joined Ferris State’s coaching staff in May 2025 and is preparing for his first year with the Bulldogs in the 2025-26 campaign.