Prior to coaching, Cole played professional hockey for 11 seasons including six seasons in the National Hockey League.   A graduate of Michigan State University he is one of 15 Spartans to have hoisted the Stanley Cup as he helped the New Jersey Devils to the 1995 Cup.

In addition to the NHL he represented the USA as a member of the Men's National Team on three occasions and earned the outstanding player award  of the 1991 IIHF Men's World Championship.

Cole's coaching career started immediately following his playing days. After retiring from the Grand Rapids Griffins in 1999-2000, he remained with the team as an assistant before spending 2001-02 with Muskegon in the United Hockey League, guiding the team to the playoff championship.
 
Cole followed that with a nearly three-year stint as head coach of the Griffins which included two Calder Cup Playoff appearances in 2003 and 2004.

In 2006-07, Cole landed his first college job as an assistant at Bowling Green. After one year at BGSU, he was hired as head coach at Alabama-Huntsville where he led UAH to the program's second-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament, before moving on to USA Hockey in 2010.

Cole's highly-successful run with USA Hockey included guiding the U.S. to two gold medals and one bronze medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation Men's Under-18 World Championship and three top-three finishes at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the top events in each age group.

He was appointed head coach of the Michigan State hockey program April 2017. He spent five seasons behind the Spartan bench and has 21 seasons as a head coach.

Over Cole's career to-date he has coached 105 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League and has amassed over 500 victories.

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