[6] After the 1960 Olympics Cleary retired as a player and became an ice hockey official for several years before returning to Harvard in 1968 to coach the freshman squad.

[8] There was a slight recovery in 1981–82 when Harvard won its division and was able to use it to propel itself into the ECAC title game and receive a subsequent invitation to the 1982 NCAA Tournament despite its rather bland record.

The next season saw return to prominence for the Crimson as they won the ECAC Tournament and made the team's first National Title game, losing 6–2 to Wisconsin.

Cleary won four consecutive ECAC regular season titles from '86 to '89 (one shared) and reached the National Championship for a second time in 1986, losing 6–5 to Michigan State.

That season Cleary coached his second Hobey Baker winner, Scott Fusco, who remains the top career scorer in the history of the program.

[1] Among many of the honors he has received include being named to the NCAA Ice Hockey 50th Anniversary team, chosen as the US Hockey Player of the Decade (1956–1966), tabbed as one of the 100 Golden Olympians by the USOC as well as being named the 33rd-best Massachusetts athlete in the 20th century by Sports Illustrated and #68 on the Boston Globe's top 100 New England athletes of the 20th century.