The Academy of Art University Athletics Department is pleased to announce the hiring of Charles Ryan as the new Urban Knight Head Track & Field/
Cross Country Coach.
“I am unbelievably excited for the opportunity to come here and develop a program of my own. I couldn’t be happier to be back in the Bay Area, this is where I’m from and it’s nice to be home again,” says Ryan.
Ryan is no stranger to success, both as an athlete and a coach. After three seasons as the Assistant Sprints/Hurdles Coach for Louisiana Tech, Ryan joins the Urban Knight Track & Field/Cross Country program. While coaching at Louisiana Tech Ryan trained 30 WAC Conference Champions, 28 NCAA Regional Qualifiers, and 12 NCAA National Qualifiers.
Prior to his arrival at Louisiana Tech, the Bay Area native from Richmond, CA had major success at the club and high school level. He led numerous athletes to All-American high school accolades. His athletes broke three US National records, won six individual national championships and 15 state champions. Ryan co-founded Track Knoxville in 2005, a club team out of Knoxville, TN, that sent 100 percent of its graduates to Division-I NCAA programs.
“I may be 29 years old, but my philosophy is old school. My goal is to provide a culture of accountability and discipline while building a strong recruiting base in the state of California; I want to put the program on the national scene with a core foundation of sprints, hurdles, relays, and jumps, while still maintaining our championship status in the PacWest Conference in Cross Country,” says Ryan.
During his four year college tenure, Ryan ran hurdles and relays for both UCLA and South Carolina. While at South Carolina, he earned a BA in Liberal Arts with a major in Sociology, and was a part of the quartet that set an American record in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay in 2003 and was a US Junior All-American while at UCLA.
“I would honestly like to thank Dr. Williams and President Stephens for giving me this opportunity. I plan to be here for a long time and do a lot of damage at the Division II level. I don’t play small, I only play big!” Ryan states.
Director of Athletics Dr. Jamie Williams is equally as excited to have Ryan join the Academy of Art coaching staff.
“Hiring Charles Ryan takes our program to a higher level, and of course that’s what we are all here for, reaching for the stars!” says Dr. Williams.