Garland promoted to DII men’s hockey head coaching post

Christian Garland Liberty DII bench — Garland shares a light moment with players on the bench as an assistant coach this past season. (Photo by Kendall Tidwell)

Seven seasons of serving as assistant coach on Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team have prepared Christian Garland extremely well for taking on the head coaching role, starting this week.

The former DI and DII forward for the Flames succeeds eighth-year Head Coach Ben Hughes, who was named an assistant on the Flames' DI coaching staff in early April.

"I'm really excited," Garland said. "It was not in my plans. I was totally content to serve as assistant coach. I loved working with Ben. We really made a good team, especially the last three or four years when we got to know each other and each other's strengths and weaknesses really well. I am really excited about the opportunity to grow the team and the culture."

"There is a different set of pressures that come from being the head coach," he added. "I am really thankful to have learned the ins and outs of coaching from (Hughes) and I am really excited to dive head-first into it. I am looking forward to digging further and deeper in hockey and learning and growing even more."

He said the Flames have established a winning tradition under Hughes and his predecessor, Chris Lowes, who also coached the team for eight seasons. Lowes led Liberty to the national championship final with Garland on the top forward line in 2016, before taking the helm of the DI women's hockey team in 2017-18 and guiding the Lady Flames to six ACHA national championships over the past eight seasons.

"Every year, we have been a top-five or six ranked program in the nation," Garland said. "More importantly, I am excited about the culture we've established, where we want to grow players in their faith, and we are unapologetic about who we are. We never won a national championship, but we have changed lives and continued to grow the mission, and I am really excited to pour into guys and to continue to grow them along that path."

Hughes said Garland will establish his own coaching style and lead the team to even greater accomplishments.

"We have been coaching together for so long that he knows how we've done things," Hughes said. "Now, he's going to bring his own spin to things, implementing his own strengths. He will continue to build off of what he's been a part of for seven years and he's going to bring it deeper and take it to new heights and levels. It is an incredible opportunity for him to continue to grow deeper in his passions and that's ultimately going to help him and all of us continue to look more like Jesus every day."

Christian Garland on ice WVU — Garland leads a breakout vs. West Virginia in his final season with the Flames, playing on the Division II team. (Photo by Joel Coleman)

Besides the coaching staff, the Flames' roster will have a much different look next season.

"We graduated a lot of seniors and are looking to bring in 15 new players, so it's exciting," Assistant Coach Josh Graham said. "We'll have some big shoes to fill with Ben moving up to DI, but Christian's going to do a great job. On the hockey side, he understands what's needed to coach at that level, and with all of the support we have here, he'll pick up the administrative side really well, too."

Replacing more than half of the team will be a rebuilding challenge, but it will provide Garland the chance to instill his coaching style into many of the players from the start of their collegiate careers.

"It is exciting to be able to mold and be able to take the team in a different direction, to continue the success we've had coaching together over the past seven years and build off that," he said, noting he is excited to work with Graham in developing the young talent. "He's got a really good heart for the kids and a passion for the sport, and I am excited to see how we can work together to grow the program and hopefully see some more success."

Christian Garland on ice — Garland leads a practice before the Flames nationals opener in March near St. Louis.

At the team's April 24-26 Select Camp, Garland and the staff identified at least 10 potential prospects to add to the 2025-26 DII team. "We had a lot of guys show up to camp who weren't on the radar, and we are feeling really good about where our roster's at right now," he said. "(Club Sports Recruitment and Summer Planning Coordinator) Brett (Berthiaume) did a phenomenal job putting that Select Camp together. It was hands-down the best camp the program's ever had."

Garland will have the opportunity to grow as a coach alongside his players in the formative years of their academic and athletic careers as well as their social and spiritual lives.

"There's a lot for me to figure out yet, but I am very excited to learn and grow and figure out what my style is," Garland said. "I'm very relational, and I want to get to know the guys and show them we truly care and show them the love of Jesus."

Developing players' spiritual walks, as much as their skating skills, has been the main focus Garland and Hughes have taken on the teams they coached in recent seasons.

"Early in our careers, Ben and I placed a huge emphasis on winning," Garland said. "Now we look at it through a different lens and (Hughes) has done a really good job of navigating that shift of our team. I am excited to lead the players in that regard and aim toward fulfilling the university's mission of Training Champions for Christ, and leading them to want to continue to pour back into Liberty after they're gone."

Garland, who graduated with B.S. degrees in both finance and economics in 2015 before earning his MBA in 2017, will shift his professional position on staff at Liberty as well. After working for the past few years as a business data analyst for Liberty's Analytics and Decision Support department, a branch of Information Systems, he will serve alongside Hughes, Club Sports' assistant athletic director of Development, as assistant director of Development and Alumni Relations.

"I am thankful to continue to work with Ben, and with donors and alumni on the Club Sports side, to continue to grow the department and bring professional skills to the department and continue to move the needle forward," Garland said. "I am excited to learn the ins and outs of Club Sports. Being a part of the department for last 14 years, first as a student-athlete and a graduate assistant and then an assistant coach, I am looking forward to the opportunity to grow the department and keep growing relationships with our alumni base. God's given me a heart for alumni, especially those that have played for me. As a role model and a mentor, I now will be working for that purpose, and I did not foresee that at all."

Christian Monika and Cora Garland — Christian and Monika Garland welcomed their first child, Cora, into their family last fall.

He is grateful to Club Sports Athletic Director Kirk Handy and Hughes for offering him the assistant coach position back in 2018 and has great expectations for what God is going to do through him in the future.

"(Assistant coaching) has been greater than I imagined," Garland said. "It helped me to grow spiritually and allowed me to do what I'm passionate about. I am thankful to (Handy and Hughes) for seeing the potential in me to take on that role and now to take the reins of this program. I am excited to stretch and grow and continue to see the success of our program heading into the next few years."

Along with the Lord, Garland expressed appreciation for his wife, Monika, a former Liberty Flames Sports Network sideline reporter who now serves as manager of technical operations and lead crew member for Liberty's Broadcast Engineering department.

"I am so thankful for Monika's support of my dreams, and being such a huge fan of the team, as we navigate life as new parents," he said, referring to their 8-month-old daughter, Cora.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Garland promoted to DII men’s hockey head coaching post

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