BERKELEY — Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Robyne Johnson completed her inaugural staff by announcing the addition of two-time NCAA DII National Champion coach Charles Ryan.
 
Ryan will be an assistant on the track & field staff and be charged with coaching the Cal sprints, hurdles and relays.  Throughout his career, Ryan has coached his student-athletes and teams to 16 team conference championships, 60 individual conference championships and 61 NCAA All-American honors.
 
Ryan joins the Bears after spending the past four years at Alabama State. While there, Ryan helped the Hornets to 10 SWAC Championships including seven during indoor track & field as the Hornets showcased their speed on both the men's and women's side. He also coached individuals to 33 conference championships, eight school records and 37 berths at the NCAA Championship. 

"To coach at Cal, for a kid that grew up in the Bay Area, has always been a dream of mine. My first practice and my first meet were both in Edwards Stadium. My journey through this profession has led me to this moment.  I am very grateful for this opportunity to come back home and have an opportunity to help Robyne build Cal into a national-caliber program. My time at Alabama State has been phenomenal. Ritchie Beene is one of my best friends in this profession and I am very proud of the work we have done together, but it's time for me to come home and I could not be more excited about it. I want to thank Robyne and Justin Panarese for granting me this opportunity and I can't wait to get started. Go Bears!"
 
Ryan is returning to the Bay Area after a successful stint at the Academy of Art University. As Head Coach of the Urban Knights, Ryan directed Academy of the Arts to two NCAA DII Championships.  In their first season of postseason eligibility, Ryan led the team to a sweep of the 2013 NCAA women's indoor and outdoor championships.  Ryan was named the 2013 NCAA DII National Head Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
 
Ryan took over as head of the program in the fall of 2010-11 season building the foundation for the program's rise to NCAA Eligible status in 2012-13. In his time at Academy of Art, Ryan produced 60 NCAA All-American awards. Four times, Ryan coached student-athletes who claimed USTFCCCA Regional Athletes of the Year awards. Vashti Thomas collected a number of honors while training under Ryan, including recognition as the NCAA National Athlete of the Year in 2013. She also took fifth place in the long jump at the USA Olympic Trials and earned a gold medal at the World University Games.
 
In addition to the success on the track, Ryan's athletes also garnered multiple D2ADA Academic Achievement Awards and served the community of the San Francisco Bay Area with numerous volunteer activities.
 
"I think Charles is going to be a tremendous addition to the program," Johnson said. "He has a wealth of knowledge and has coached some of the best hurdlers in the country. He did a great job leading Art U to two national championships. Like myself, he is coming home to the Bay Area and he's going to put a good spin on our sprint/hurdle/relay group."
 
In addition to Thomas, Ryan has also worked with a number of professional athletes. He has helped Christina Manning to the IAAF World Indoor Silver medal in the 60m hurdles. He has also worked with Olympic Gold Medalist Tianna Bartoletta. Ryan also spent time coaching with the Norwegian Athletics Federation in 2017-18 where he helped Isabelle Pederson to the Norwegian National record and a sixth-place finish in the 60m hurdles at the 2018 World Indoor Championship.
 
Prior to his stint at Art U, Ryan was an Assistant Coach at Louisiana Tech University where he led the men's and women's sprints and hurdles from 2007-2010. During his three seasons at La Tech, Ryan produced 25 Individual WAC Conference (Western Athletic Conference) Champions, 72 All-WAC Awards, 59 NCAA Championship Qualifiers, and five La Tech program records. He also coached Antoinette Cobb, who won four WAC titles and was named the 2010 Honda Inspiration Award.
 
In fall of 2005 Ryan Co-founded a sports educational project for high school students looking to pursue college athletics called Track Knoxville. In the three years of the program Ryan helped over 90% of his student-athletes find a path to a university education. His athletes set two high school national records, won five individual national championships, six All-American awards, 10 TSSAA Individual State Champions, and two TSSAA State Team Championships for Knoxville West HS where he volunteered his time. He coached Jacquelyn Coward who went on to be named to the ESPN All-Decade All-American Team and was a six-time first-team All-American for University of Central Florida.
 
As an athlete, Ryan attended UCLA where he was a US junior All-American. He transferred to South Carolina for his final two years where he became a NCAA All-American and a SEC All-Conference performer. He graduated from South Carolina in 2004 with a BA degree in Sociology. He has continued his professional education earing an IAAF Level five Coaching distinction in Sprints/Hurdles. Ryan is also USATF Level II Certified in the Jumps. He also received a USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Coach Certification in 2016.
 
Ryan will be the final piece to Robyne Johnson's inaugural staff. Johnson will coach the horizontal jumps, Dan Lefever will coach vertical jumps, pole vault and multis after following Johnson from Boston University. Bobby Lockhart joins the Bears from UNC and will serve as the Head Cross Country Coach and assistant track & field coach for distance and mid distance. Mohammad Saatara (throws) and Chas Davis (assistant distance and mid-distance coach) come back for their seventh seasons working with the Cal track & field team.