Michael John Addesa, Jr. (January 8, 1945 – November 29, 2022) was an American ice hockey coach and football player.
He was elevated to head coach in 1976 and stayed in that position until the end of the 1978–1979 season, when he was hired by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
[4] Addesa was forced to resign as head coach at RPI in 1989 due to philosophical differences, stemming from the controversy over accusations of making racist comments towards one of two black players on his team, one of whom was future NHL player Graeme Townshend: "If you don’t put forth a greater effort, the world will only see you as a stereotypical nigger.” He has apologized for the comments.
"I loved the guy.”[5] Addesa would later go on to say that he had not meant the comments "racially" [6] and to describe his firing from RPI as a "scam" which had made it impossible for him to continue coaching.
[7] Addesa worked as a scout for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League from 1990 to 1995 and the Calgary Flames from 2011 to 2013.