As a young kid in the upper peninsula of Michigan, Jason Fairman first learned how to skate on ice, which was the first step to his love for hockey.

Fairman brings this love for hockey to Iowa State, as he was named Cyclone Hockey’s new assistant coach of the Division I team and co-head coach of the Division III team in the offseason.

“I think he is a great asset,” said team captain senior Mark Huber. “He knows a lot about hockey and has a lengthy hockey resume.”

This hockey resume starts with Fairman’s playing career. He played collegiate hockey for Cornell University and Denver University and played a season of pro hockey in Norway.

After his playing career was over, Fairman coached several hockey teams, ranging from NCAA Division I to high school.

Fairman’s most recent coaching gig, prior to one at Iowa State, was with Buffalo High School in Buffalo, Minn. Coaching at Buffalo wasn’t his full-time job, though. He worked as a bank investment adviser for Merrill Lynch.

But when Fariman saw the ad for the Cyclone Hockey coaching job, he believed it was a chance to return to the time in his life when he was happiest.    

“I felt like I was just spinning my wheels at Merrill Lynch,” Fairman said. “I’ve been in finance just short of a decade. And I just thought: What do I want to do? So I looked back on my life, and I was happiest in an academic environment.”

Luckily for Fairman, one of the requirements to be the new assistant coach for Cyclone Hockey was that the applicant had to be getting a graduate degree. So Fairman won’t just be coaching hockey at Iowa State, he will also be a student at the university. He will be attempting to get a doctorate degree in higher education and leadership.

The impact that Fairman will have on Cyclone Hockey is still up in the air, said ISU coach Al Murdoch, who thinks it is too early to tell what effect his new assistant coach will have on the team.

“He has a good resume,” Murdoch said. “But it’s too early to tell.”

To Huber, though, Fairman’s impact has already been felt.

“It is good to have him around,” Huber said. “He has been really stressing that everyone is on same playing field. So guys aren’t getting away with stuff, like being late. I think he is doing what needs to get done to keep guys focused and to keep the guys working hard.”

Fairman isn’t sure what effect he is having on Cyclone Hockey this early, stating that he is just trying to share his knowledge of hockey with the program, but he is excited for the chance to do so.

“I’m excited about this opportunity,” Fairman said. “It is going to lead me down a different path in life.”