Men’s basketball head coach Rob Krimmel announced his retirement from the University on March 27.
Krimmel has devoted 29 years of his life to SFU, beginning as a student-athlete in 1996. He has served as head coach of the program for the last 13 seasons.
“Coach Krimmel’s legacy at Saint Francis University will forever be remembered for the profound impact he has had on our community,” said Fr. Malachi Van Tassell, president of SFU, in a statement. “From student to coach to colleague, he has embodied the very best of what it means to be a Red Flash.
“His dedication, integrity and passion have left an indelible mark on this institution – we could not have asked for a finer representative of Saint Francis.”
Krimmel’s resignation came two days after Fr. Malachi announced that SFU will be transitioning from a Division I athletics program to one that competes at the Division III level, beginning in 2026-27. This decision was made by the institution’s Board of Trustees.
Associate Head Coach Luke McConnell will succeed Krimmel in leading the Red Flash men’s basketball program.
“I made the recommendation [to hire McConnell],” said Krimmel. “Luke’s the man for the job. He’s the person who will serve this institution in a transition better than I could have.”
While Krimmel acknowledged that the transition to Division III played a factor in his decision to retire, he said it was not the sole one.
“I always said that there are two things that will get me out: if they fire me or if my family takes a backseat to my job,” said Krimmel.
“And [balancing my job and family] was something that I had wrestled with post-COVID, with the changes in the landscape of collegiate athletics.”
Krimmel said he believes that the University’s decision to transition to Division III was a sign from God that he needed to take a step away from basketball and focus on his family.
“It’s time to be a father. It’s time to be a husband,” he said. “And not that I wasn’t before, but I had to make sure that I made them my priority.”
Krimmel and his wife, Aileen, have two sons, Alex and Tommy.
At the beginning of each new year, Krimmel said he likes to choose a word to live by and write it on the whiteboard in his office. In 2025, his word is “surrender.”
Three months into the new year, he said he has realized what this means.
“Part of the emotional roller coaster in the last couple of months was trying to figure out what it truly means to surrender,” he said.
“I understand that word now better than I ever have.”
Krimmel led the Flash men’s basketball team to a 2025 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 34 years.
SFU beat Central Connecticut State, 46-43, in the NEC championship game on March 11, before falling to Alabama State in the “First Four” of this year’s NCAA Tournament on March 18.
During his 13 years as head coach, he led his teams to four NEC championship game appearances. His 2018-19 squad won an NEC regular-season title.
Krimmel leaves Saint Francis after coaching 399 games as head coach and being part of the men’s basketball program for close to 850 games dating back to his arrival on campus as a student-athlete in the fall of 1996. He won 171 games as a head coach.
“I have a clear mind and a clean heart,” said Krimmel. “I’ve completely surrendered, and I’m at peace with what we were able to do in my time at Saint Francis.
“It’s an emotional time – a transition away from something I’ve known since 1996.”
All but one scholarship player on the SFU men’s basketball team has entered the transfer portal, with several entering even before the announcement to go to Division III was made.
Krimmel does not know what his next steps are, but he is sure of what he wants to get out of it.
“I know that I want to be in a place where I can build meaningful relationships, where I can help people achieve goals, where I can impact the community,” he said.
“Where that leads me, I have absolutely, positively no clue.
“The journey that I was on and the people that I met [at Saint Francis] are the things that I will always cherish and remember,” he said.
Krimmel said a final date for his employment at the University has not been set. He said that he wants to stay and help transition the players and staff as much as he can.
