Brandon Naurato

Brandon Naurato is an American former ice hockey player and current head coach for Michigan.

Playing career
Naurato's college career began in the fall of 2005 when he joined the ice hockey team at Michigan. He played for legendary head coach Red Berenson during a very successful time for the program. Naurato provided depth scoring for a Wolverine team that won 109 games during his 4-year tenure, making the NCAA tournament each season. After graduating with a degree in general studies, Naurato played professional hockey for parts of 4 seasons.

Coaching career
Following his playing career, Naurato worked for USA Hockey as the Director of player Development for almost eight years. Near the end of his stint with the organization, he took on additional responsibilities as a player development consultant with the Detroit Red Wings. In August of 2021, after former assistant Kris Mayotte was hired to be the head coach at Colorado College, Naurato joined the staff at his alma mater. During the 2022 offseason, Michigan's head coach, Mel Pearson, was accused of mistreating both players and staff during his tenure with the Wolverines. In early August, Pearson was dismissed from his position and the program scrambled to find his replacement. Because the vacancy happened so close to the start of the next season, the Wolverines were not able to perform a typical hiring search. On August 7, 2022, Michigan promoted Naurato to interim head coach for the 2022–23 season. On March 31, 2023, Naurato was promoted to permanent head coach, agreeing to a five-year contract.