Head Coach Casey Jones announced on June 25, 2019 that Mike Towns had joined the Golden Knights staff as an assistant coach.
In his first season with the Knights, Clarkson skated to a 23-8-3 overall record and a second place 16-5-1 ECAC Hockey mark. The Knights were poised for postseason success and were rated ninth in the final NCAA Pairwise rankings before the COVID 19 pandemic forced an abrupt end to the college hockey season in early March.
Towns came to Clarkson after serving five years on the staff at American International College, including the 2018-19 campaign as the Yellow Jackets associate head coach. Since arriving at AIC in August 2014, Towns helped guide the Yellow Jackets to the most successful seasons in the program's history.
"I am very excited about Mike and Dianna joining the Clarkson Hockey family," stated Jones. "Mike's body of work and reputation aligns him perfectly with how we want to conduct our business. Ultimately every successful program starts with the people you have and the relationships you build. Our athletes will benefit greatly from Mike's addition to our staff."
Serving as AIC's recruiting coordinator since 2016-17, Towns was instrumental in recruiting efforts that helped rebuild the Yellow Jackets program. Towns helped recruit head coach Eric Lang's first recruiting class for the 2016-2017 season, which was regarded as one of the best in the conference. The 2017-2018 season saw more impressive recruiting efforts. The team set program records for wins in a season (15), and was able to host and win its first Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament series. The Yellow Jackets continued improving and enjoyed unprecedented success in 2018-2019, reestablishing a record for victories (23), and winning both the Atlantic Hockey regular season and playoff championships. AIC excelled at the NCAA tournament as well, upsetting No. 1 St. Cloud State to advance to the West Regional Championship.
Towns was responsible for many facets of AIC's hockey program. His primary responsibilities included coaching the team's forwards, including bench management and skill development. He was also responsible for video and statistical breakdown and coaching the power play.
"My wife, Dianna, and I couldn't be more excited to join the Clarkson University hockey program and Clarkson community," stated Towns. "I was very impressed with the campus and facilities when I came up here, but was even more impressed with the incredible people I got to meet with. It will be a pleasure working with Coach Jones and Coach (Josh) Hauge. I can't wait to get started."
As a player, Towns spent four seasons in the BCHL playing with the Penticton Vees before attending Adrian College. At Adrian, Towns was an alternate captain his first two seasons, and the team's captain in his junior and senior years. During his senior season, Towns captained the Bulldogs to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four, eventually losing in the National Championship Game. Towns graduated from Adrian with a Bachelor's of Business administration in Management, and completed his Masters of Business Administration at AIC in May 2016. Following his successful collegiate career, Towns embarked on a three-year professional career, making stops with the Denver Cutthroats of the CHL, the Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign in the ECHL.
