Desjardins began his coaching career at the
University of Calgary in 1985 as assistant coach and became head coach in 1989. He then coached the
Seibu Bears in Japan. He then returned to Canada and became head coach of the
Saskatoon Blades, replacing Donn Clark midway through the 1997–98 season. He was then offered a job as an assistant coach for the
Canada men's national team. Once hired by the
Medicine Hat Tigers, Desjardins was instrumental in the Tigers' first playoff appearance in five years in the 2002–03 season, leading them to a
Memorial Cup appearance and their 4th WHL championship in 2003–04, and a 96-point Eastern Conference regular season champion 2004–05 season. Desjardins took on the duties of general manager for the 2005–06 season. Desjardins was awarded the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy for the Coach of the Year in the
Western Hockey League and the Canadian Hockey League. In 2009, he was the assistant coach of Team Canada's World Junior Gold medal team, under head coach
Pat Quinn and alongside fellow assistant coaches
Guy Boucher and
Dave Cameron. Desjardins was the head coach of Team Canada's
2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships team. From 2010 to 2012, Desjardins served as the associate head coach of the
Dallas Stars of the
National Hockey League before being selected as the head coach of their AHL team in
Cedar Park, Texas in June 2012. On June 17, 2014, he led his
Texas Stars team to their first
Calder Cup Championship. On June 23, 2014, Desjardins was hired as the head coach for the
Vancouver Canucks, replacing
John Tortorella, who was dismissed as head coach after one season. On April 10, 2017, he was fired after the team missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season, along with assistants
Perry Pearn and
Doug Lidster. Desjardins posted a record of 109–110–27 in three seasons with the club. On July 25, 2017, he was named head coach of
Canada's men's team at the
2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang,
South Korea, with his university head coach Dave King as an assistant. On November 4, 2018, Desjardins was named interim head coach by the
Los Angeles Kings after they fired
John Stevens. Desjardins' presence did not lead to the team improving as the Kings went 27–34–8 and finished in last place in the Western Conference. One day after the season ended, the Kings announced that they would not bring Desjardins back for the 2019–20 season. On May 31, 2019, it was announced that Desjardins had been re-hired as head coach and general manager of the
Medicine Hat Tigers. ==Personal life==