PENSACOLA, Fla. – There’ll be another new face behind the bench in the SPHL this fall.
After nine seasons and three championships, Pensacola head coach Rod Aldoff is retiring.
The announcement came by way of a press release issued by the Ice Flyers on Wednesday.
“It has been a great honor to be the head coach of the Ice Flyers. Since coming to Pensacola in 2013, the city, fans, and the entire Ice Flyers organization have welcomed me with open arms and made me feel a part of this great city and organization,” Aldoff said in a statement released by the team. “While I have enjoyed my time here and have made countless memories and friends, it is in the best interest of my family that I make the difficult decision to no longer coach the Ice Flyers.”
Aldoff’s departure will mean a void in the league minus two of its longer-tenured head coaches. Huntsville’s Glenn Detulleo stepped away from coaching at the end of the season in Huntsville but will remain with the Havoc in a front-office role as Executive General Manager. Former Havoc star Stuart Stefan will replace him.
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For Pensacola, Aldoff departs as one of two Ice Flyers coaches to lead Pensacola to a President’s Cup title. He had two stints for Pensacola, first from 2013 to 2016 and again from 2018 to 2023. The first of those stints came under plenty of pressure, as Aldoff took over after Gary Graham coached Pensacola to a President’s Cup crown.
All Aldfoff did was lead the team to 38 wins and 81 points on the way to a second league title in a row. Two years later, a thrilling, last-second win in the finals over Peoria gave the Ice Flyers another title. Then, in 2018, Aldoff made his way back behind the Ice Flyers bench, and in 2020-21, Pensacola, with Aldoff meshing together a roster of new and old faces due to COVID-19 opt-outs, pulled the upset in the President’s Cup finals, taking down Macon for the franchise’s fourth championship.
“We wish nothing but the best for Rod and his family and can’t thank him enough for what he’s done here. Rod came in and set the tone immediately in his first season,” Pensacola owner Greg Harris said. “It’s not easy for a new coach to come to a team after winning a championship under another coach, however, that season, he won Coach of the Year, a regular season championship, and a decisive SPHL championship to take our organization back-to-back. Everyone in sports knows that winning back-to-back titles is hard enough, but what he did was take it to a completely different level.”
Overall, Aldoff leaves Pensacola with a record of 237-154-54 (.593) and an overall post-season record of 22-11 (.667).
