The Journey: Kiefer Haffey elevated to head coach at Detroit Mercy

On3’s Talia Goodman is showcasing women’s college basketball coaches taking over at new schools. This is the third edition of year two of the series – in which we’ll take a deeper look at some of the 60-plus coaches who took over new programs during a turbulent offseason. This time we learn more about Kiefer Haffey, the new head coach at Detroit Mercy.

Kiefer Haffey bio

EXPERIENCE: Concordia (2017-22), Detroit Mercy (2022-present)

Why Detroit Mercy?

Haffey’s path to the head coaching seat at Detroit Mercy was different than most. Already serving as the associate head coach, he was promoted this offseason when head coach Kate Achter took the head coaching job at Western Michigan. 

“It’s been great,” Haffey said. “It’s been fun, because I think the world of college basketball has been evolving these last few years with NIL and things like that. For me, it’s navigating the combination of what we’ve had going so well these last few years, retaining so much of our staff, and then putting my own spin on it…We’re trying to take our team from a good, competitive basketball team to one of the best in the Horizon League.”

Unlike most programs which had to deal with plenty of roster turnover due to the transfer portal, Haffey was one of few coaches to retain nearly every eligible player. 

 “We had three enter the portal, and two came back,” Haffey said. “Makayla Jackson and Addisen Mastriano both returned. The only one who left was Kailey Starks, and we love Kailey — she’s incredible, and she’s going to be great for Kate at Western Michigan. But [retention has] been huge.”

Kiefer Haffey’s coaching style, mindset

Though his players already know him well as their associate head coach, Detroit Mercy won’t be identical under his leadership. 

“Our girls were vocal during the hiring process about being hopeful that I was taking over and that being what they wanted,” Haffey said. “But at the same time, we’re not doing everything the exact same way and I’m not their assistant coach anymore… It’s not like we’re just taking A through Z of what we did last year and trying to do it again this year. There are a lot of things our previous coach did tremendously that we’ll try to do again, but there are new things too.”

It’s a balance for Haffey — the familiarity is great, but there’s still a learning curve as they shape the new version of this program. Haffey wants his team’s identity to be fast-paced and precise.

“We say speed, space, shot selection…,” he explained. “Our fast isn’t just about getting a shot up in the first five seconds — it’s about creating an early advantage and then using the rest of the possession to keep or expand that advantage until we get a shot that we’ve determined is a really good one. For us, that’s layups at the rim, rhythm kick-out threes, or getting to the free throw line. We’re trying to use our speed to be fast and put some pressure on the defense and create early advantages.”

Something you may not know about Haffey

While basketball is his passion, Haffey picked up a successful side hustle back in his NAIA days. 

“When I was an NAIA coach, resources were limited at that level, and at the time I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get a chance to coach somewhere else…,” he said. “So I started an Amazon business. It’s still running today… I laugh, because I see where I am now and how busy I am on the day-to-day of being a head coach, but I guess we did a good job a few years ago, and it’s just kind of taking care of itself.”