The Greenville Swamp Rabbits have named Chad Costello as the team’s sixth head coach and General Manager. This comes a little over a month after the Swamp Rabbits had fired Kyle Mountain after his first season as the team’s head coach. Mountain had spent his first season in Greenville as an assistant coach. For Greenville, they get a coach who not only made a name for himself during his playing days, but also a coach who has shown that he has what it takes to get a team into the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Chad Costello, 38, was added to the Rapid City Staff as an Associate Coach on December 12th, joining Peter Drikos, who took over as Rapid City’s head coach when Scott Burt took a medical leave. During his time with the Rush, they went 18-10-3-1, including an 11-game winning streak and a 13-game point streak. Prior to joining Rapid City, the Johnston, Iowa, native spent two seasons as the head coach of the Allen Americans, leading the team to a 70-67-5-2 record, which included appearances in the Kelly Cup Playoffs in both seasons.
“I’ve been taught by old school coaches and played with new school athletes. As a coach myself, I try to ride that line between old school accountability where we work every single day, and the new school where I can relate to the players and help them develop, having been through it myself,” he continued. “From my playing days to this coaching role, however, the most important aspect I bring to my approach is competing on a daily basis. From the top of our organization to our team, we need to win every day of the week in our habits and win on game days as a result of our hard work. Fans, I’m honest, I’m loyal, and I love my players. Expect a hard, fast, consistent brand of hockey, and expect a team that’s committed to doing things right every night we take the ice. I look forward to getting started right away in our pursuit of a Kelly Cup Championship.”
Chad Costello on being named Head Coach and GM of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (Via Greenville Swamp Rabbits Press Release)
Playing Career
Prior to his coaching career, he spent 14 years as a player in the ECHL, putting up 172 goals and 389 assists for 561 points. He was named to the ECHL First All-Star team four times during his career. He won back-to-back Kelly Cup Championships in 2015 and 2016 and was named the Kelly Cup Playoff MVP in 2016. Costello also had a three-season stretch from 2015 to 2017, during which he led the league in assists and points.
During the 2015-16 season, Costello had at least one assist in 19 straight games. That is the second-longest streak in ECHL History. Costello is currently tied for first for most consecutive seasons with at least 100 points (2014-2016). His 29 assists during the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs are the most by any player in the Playoffs. He would also go on to win the MVP three times in his career (2012, 2016, 2017). Costello would have his number retired by the Allen Americans in 2024.
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