A member of the Nashville Predators organization – former Milwaukee Admirals player and assistant coach Scott Ford – was just promoted.
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Thursday that they have hired Ford as their new assistant coach.
A Predators source told the Tennesseean that Ford is expected to return for the 2024-25 season before being offered a better position in Columbus.
“Thank you, Coach Scott Ford, for everything you have done for the Preds and the (Milwaukee Admirals) over the past 15 years,” the team said in a post on X.
Ford, 44, spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Predators’ AHL affiliate team in Milwaukee. Before that, he played 522 games in seven seasons for the Admirals. As a defenseman, he scored 18 goals and 47 assists and also recorded 762 penalty minutes.
By joining the Blue Jackets, Ford will reunite with former colleague Dean Evason, who was hired as Columbus’ head coach in July. Evason hired Ford as his assistant in Milwaukee after Ford announced his retirement from hockey in 2015.
This will be Ford’s first job as an NHL coach and his first outside of the Nashville Predators.
Before joining the Predators, Ford played college hockey at Brown University (2000-2004). As a senior in 2004, he captained the Bears, playing in all 31 games. The Fort St. John, ON native spent several seasons in the ECHL before earning a spot on the Admirals roster in 2008.
For the Admirals, head coach Karl Taylor now has a vacancy on his staff. Assistant coach Greg Rallo and goaltending coach Justin Barron are expected to return for the 2024-25 season.
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