Report: The Flyers interviewed Western Michigan’s Pat Ferschweiler for their head coaching job

General manager Danny Brière wants a teacher and a communicator as the Flyers’ next head coach. Could that guy be Pat Ferschweiler?

ESPN is reporting that the Western Michigan bench boss interviewed this week with the Flyers for their vacant head coaching position. It comes less than a month after Ferschweiler led the Broncos to the school’s first NCAA championship.

A source confirmed to The Inquirer that Ferschweiler was in Texas this week for the Under-18 World Championships. Brière and Flyers president Keith Jones also are at the tournament to do final scouting on some top prospects before June’s NHL draft. Consensus top-10 pick Anton Frondell is one of the top players participating in the U18 Worlds.

“I’m focused on coaching Western Michigan to the best of my abilities,” Ferschweiler told The Inquirer the day before snagging the title in St. Louis in early April. “It’s an exciting time to be in a conversation for something like that, but I love this job that I’m doing right now. I think it’s a great fit for me.”

» READ MORE: Flyers prospect Alex Bump won an NCAA title with Western Michigan. Could his coach join him here?

But after reaching the mountain top at his alma mater — he played three seasons at Western Michigan, including two alongside Jones — is he looking for a return to the pros?

Ferschweiler was an assistant coach for four seasons on Jeff Blashill’s staff with the Detroit Red Wings (2015-19) and runs Western Michigan like an NHL squad both on and off the ice.

His team’s playing style is similar to that of former Flyers coach John Tortorella. He wants his team to play fast defensively.

“The more we can have [the puck], that’s, I believe, the best defense there is,” he said, sounding eerily similar to the former Flyers coach.

A big believer in puck support, Ferschweiler and his staff “don’t love to put people on islands if we can, we love to give them help when we can,” and offensively, he wants his team to attack fast off turnovers and not allow the other team to get set up.

But that’s where his similarities end with Tortorella. Ferschweiler is cool, calm, and collected — as evidenced by his demeanor after Denver rallied and tied things up in the Frozen Four semifinals before Western Michigan won in double overtime. He remained stoic and could be seen telling his guys to stay focused even after the championship game was well in hand.

After having a fiery Tortorella, cool, calm, and collected sounds like a good combination for the next Flyers bench boss.

“It’s the most important thing you can have, because I believe calm leads to good decisions,” Ferschweiler said. “And when you’re calm, you can see solutions, rather than problems. I think when you’re frantic and you’re panicked or you’re under stress, you see problems. In hockey, there’s too many problems out there. We need to find solutions.”

Ferschweiler’s calmness would be helpful for a Flyers squad that has several young stars who are the same age as many of the Broncos. Flyers prospect and Western Michigan star Alex Bump appreciated that about his college coach.

“He keeps the guys calm,” Bump said April 11. “[If] he’s freaking out, we’re probably going to start freaking out. Everything trickles down from him. We all look up to him. He means the world to every single one of us. So it’s a complete honor to play for him.”

» READ MORE: Flyers coaching candidate Rick Tocchet is a free agent after parting ways with the Canucks

While Ferschweiler is the first name associated with a formal interview with the Flyers, Brière previously said the team will consider interim head coach Brad Shaw. A source said that Rick Tocchet, who announced Wednesday that he will not be returning to Vancouver, also is high on the Flyers’ list. One coach not thought to be a true contender for the gig is Denver’s David Carle, with a source saying that the two are “not a good fit.”