Jared Nightingale

Jared Nightingale was named the eighth head coach during the IceHogs AHL era on May 30, 2025. Nightingale returns to Rockford after serving as the Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays during the 2024-25 campaign. In his one season in South Carolina, Nightingale posted a 52-15-5 record, winning the John Brophy Award as the ECHL's Coach of the Year, while setting Stingray franchise records for wins (52) and points (109) in a single season and capturing the ECHL's Brabham Cup, awarded to the team with the best regular season record.

Nightingale served as the IceHogs team captain during the 2013-14 season. In 67 games with the IceHogs, the Jackson, Michigan, native, netted one goal and three assists for four points and led the team with 114 penalty minutes. Overall, he played in 674 professional games in the AHL and ECHL, totaling 102 points (23G, 79A), including AHL stops in Springfield, Iowa, Hartford, Chicago, Charlotte, Syracuse, Norfolk, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee.

Following his playing career, Nightingale moved behind the bench as an assistant coach in the junior hockey ranks starting in 2017-18. Most recently, he served as the assistant coach with the Flint Firebirds of the OHL during the 2021-22 season, where he helped the club to a 6-5-0 record to start the season before getting named assistant coach with the IceHogs on Nov. 16, 2021. Nightingale was a member of the Saginaw Spirit coaching staff during the 2019-20 season and the former defenseman was also behind the bench with the US. National Team Development Program in the USHL in 2018-19.

With getting named head coach of the IceHogs, Nightingale joins Scott Burfoot as only the second person to both play for Rockford and then become head coach of the IceHogs.