University of Denver Athletics

Tavis MacMillan just completed his 11th season as an assistant coach with Denver hockey in 2025-26 and has helped the team win four NCAA Championships since joining the program on May 27, 2015. He was named the first general manager in DU hockey history in June 2026.

In his role as general manager/assistant coach, MacMillan leads Denver's recruiting efforts in North America and abroad while remaining an integral part of the program’s on-ice instruction, player development and coaching on game days.
 
MacMillan (MAC-millan), 55, helped the Pioneers win the 2017, 2022, 2024 and 2026 National Championship wins while on the coaching staff and helped the program reach seven Frozen Four appearances, earn nine NCAA Tournament berths, win three NCHC Frozen Faceoff championships and three NCHC regular-season titles in over a decade with the team.
 
Prior to joining DU, MacMillan served eight seasons as a scout for the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise and 10 seasons as a coach for his alma mater, University of Alaska Fairbanks. MacMillan spent seven seasons as an assistant coach (1996-2003) and three seasons as the head coach of UAF from 2004-2006 (46-54-15 record as head coach). He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration marketing from Alaska Fairbanks in 1995.
 
As a player, the Milk River, Alberta, native played four seasons with UAF Nanooks (1990-1994), recording 192 points (56g/136a) in 135 NCAA games. Professionally, MacMillan skated with the Greensboro Monarchs of the ECHL in 1994-95 and the Alaska Gold Kings of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) in 1995-96, serving as a player/marketing director for the team.
 
MacMillan’s uncle, John, is a Denver alum and won two national titles with the Pioneers (1958, 1960) before embarking on a decade-long pro career. John MacMillan played in the NHL for both the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs and became the first DU player to win the Stanley Cup by raising the trophy with the Leafs in both 1962 and 1963. In total, the MacMillan family has been a part of six of the Pioneers' NCAA-record 11 national championships.
 
MacMillan resides with his wife, Deon, and has three daughters, Taryn, Camryn and Lauryn, and four grandchildren. Camryn played five seasons and was a captain on the Denver women’s soccer team (2018-2023), while Lauryn also attended DU and used to play hockey as a goaltender. Taryn is a former NCAA soccer player as well and played at North Dakota and Concordia University St. Paul.