DULUTH — Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin has signed a contract extension that will keep the three-time NCAA champion with the Bulldogs through the 2029-30 season.
The new deal is subject to approval by the University of Minnesota Board of Trustees, who are scheduled to meet
Sandelin
last signed an extension during the summer of 2022,
and was going into the final year of that deal in 2026-27 until getting the new deal this month.
UMD is coming off a memorable season in 2025-26
that included a return to the top half of the NCHC standings, an appearance in
the NCHC postseason championship game,
a return to
the NCAA tournament following a three-year absence
and Max Plante becoming
the seventh Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner in UMD hockey history.
Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante, left, and Bulldogs head coach Scott Sandelin pose with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award after Plante was named the 2026 winner April 10 in Las Vegas.
Matt Wellens / File / Duluth Media Group
No school in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey has won more Hobey Baker awards than UMD,
and no person has coached more Hobey winners than Sandelin.
Plante was his fourth Hobey winner in 26 seasons with the Bulldogs, though Sandelin says he and former UMD coach Mike Sertich share 2004 winner Junior Lessard, since Sertich recruited Lessard to UMD before Sandelin became coach in 2000.
Sandelin — a Hibbing native who turns 62 in August —
coached his 1,000th game with the Bulldogs in 2025-26,
and his career record now stands at 493-423-105 (.534) with four conference postseason titles (one WCHA, three NCHC), 12 NCAA tournament appearances, six Frozen Fours and the 2011, 2018 and 2019 national championships.
Sandelin is 24-10 (.729) in the NCAA tournament. He ranks 18th all-time in wins among NCAA Division I men’s hockey coaches and enters the 2026-27 third among active coaches, behind Frank Serratore (539) of Air Force and Rand Pecknold (618) of Quinnipiac.
Pecknold (32) and Serratore (29) are the only active coaches who have been with their school longer than Sandelin, who will officially begin his 27th season at UMD on Oct. 2-3 when the Bulldogs host Long Island University to begin 2026-27.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates, including the terms of Sandelin’s new deal.
Co-host of the Bulldog Insider Podcast and college hockey reporter for the Duluth News Tribune covering the Minnesota Duluth men’s and women’s hockey programs.