In his 25 years as a coach at Cushing Academy, Steve Jacobs has tapped the shoulders of some impressive talent, everyone from Jeff Norton to Keith Yandle to Conor Sheary to Lukas Gustafsson.
And it seems like he's under no illusion as to what that means for him as a coach.
"Yeah, kind of makes you a good coach when you get to do that with guys like that," he said with a laugh. "I’m not going to kid you."
Jacobs, 65, is having another good season at Cushing, riding a six-game winning streak into the latest New England Hockey Journal coaches poll with an 18-6-3 record.
Those 25 years at Cushing, however, were not consecutive. After starting his head-coaching career at Marborough High in 1979, Jacobs moved to Cushing in 1985. After a long and successful tenure building up the Penguins' program, he left in 2007 to take "an incredible opportunity" to run the Alpharetta Family Skate Center, a two-pad rink and recreational facility in Georgia (now run by his son, Stephen Jacobs Jr.).
Five years later, grandchildren drew him and his wife back to his native Hudson, Mass., and in 2017 he reassumed the coaching reins at Cushing. Jacobs, a former football player at the University of Massachusetts, now has more than 800 wins as a hockey coach and has guided more than 300 players to the NCAA, including 170 to Division 1, plus 68 to pro. He's won the Division 1 title twice.
Over the phone from the school at Ashburnham, Mass., Jacobs sat on our virtual hot seat to answer five questions:
1. What is the most important character trait that you look for in a player?
When I go watch a game, of course -- you’re talking character here, right? You actually mean character here, so I’m looking at body language, work habits. You can tell the passion when you go watch a player. So, you know, if he’s a forward, is he playing both ends of the ice hard? You can tell his character by the passion that he displays and, in his body language, you can tell if he’s a great teammate when you go watch.
And then, you know, talking to people, what’s his family like, what kind of character (does he have), how’s he doing in school? He doesn’t have to be an elite student ... but if he’s a great kid and works really hard in school and does well, that’s a good sign that his work habits are great ... (and,) you know, he wants to strive for excellence.
Body language to me: the backcheck, the passion and conviction when he’s playing. For a defenseman to defend and contribute  ... make the strong plays that you see that are unselfish. So, I think any coach wants unselfish guys that show great body language and teamwork.
2. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned after all these years at Cushing Academy?
My 25th at Cushing, my 42nd coaching. How’s that? Still learning.
I think communication, I’d have to go with communication. It’s so important, it’s especially important because these days they need to have that constructive feedback on a daily basis.
So, it’s really hard for the players these days, basically because of social media. To ignore the noise and stay focused on their journey, what’s (their) path because it’s always like, ‘This kid’s going to that school,’ ‘This kid’s going to that school,’ ‘He’s going to NDTP,’ and it’s like, OK, it becomes a big social media thing.
So, you know, I think that I’ve learned to try to help them ignore the noise. I emphasize every day it’s not easy, it takes great focus to ignore the noise and to keep going. If they’re going to embrace their potential, they have to, otherwise it’s always something that they can take on the ice with them when they’re not ignoring the noise. And that hurts their game, right?
3. What advice would you give to a player who is considering options for their career? Why pick prep school over something else?
I think that’s an easy one. It’s the quality of the experience in all areas. Prep school has been time-tested.
A lot of the pro guys are putting their kids in prep school now, and a lot of the Canadian pro guys are because they understand the value of the balance that a prep school offers. All the coaches are outstanding. There’s so many outstanding coaches in our prep, and they’re all educators, right, so you’ve got people that really care.
The competition is outstanding, there’s so many great opponents, they’re all striving for the same thing, they all want to work on their game every single day and it’s a fast, physical, high-level game for their age group.
I definitely have to say the support systems and the balance and the opportunity – most of the coaches live right there with the kids. People talk puck touches, puck touches, puck touches in practice; we talk a lot about people touches. When you’re a prep school, you’re with your kids all the time, so the opportunity to teach and the opportunity for them to learn.
And nowadays, they’re probably going to have to go to junior anyway afterwards, so what’s the other option? It’s junior, right? So, get the great education, the experience and real high-level hockey, where every game is a rivalry. It’s just great competition, there’s so many great players and teams.
4. What is your aspiration in hockey; what is your long-term goal?
I made a decision a long time ago that I loved the development side of it, love being a teacher, it’s what I’ve always done. It’s such a great privilege, and I never wanted to miss my kids growing up. So, I ... didn’t want to go the assistant college-coaching routine and go through that.
Having such a great opportunity in such a great place like Cushing, to have such an effect on so many kids on a daily basis is really, really rewarding. So, my aspiration I guess is to continue to do what I love and continue to improve on a daily basis.
5. Who’s the team to beat in prep hockey this year? (You can’t say Cushing Academy.)
Geez, that’s a hard one because there’s so many strong teams and we’ve had hard games.
To me, it’s the next game, every game is a challenge. What do you say, KUA, they’ve won it the last three years. They’re strong. If I was going to take one team ... but geez, I think anyone can win, there’s so many good teams.
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at [email protected].
