Charles Ryan enters his second year as an assistant coach in charge of sprints, hurdles and relays with the Bears for the 2020-21 season. The Bay Area native returned home after a successful career that has seen him coach his student-athletes and teams to 16 team conference championships, 60 individual conference championships and 61 NCAA All-American honors.
Ryan joined the Bears after spending four years at Alabama State, where he 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 sides. He also coached individuals to 33 conference championships, eight school records and 37 berths at the NCAA Championships.
As head coach at Academy of Arts University, Ryan directed the Urban Knights to two NCAA DII championships. In the squad's first season of postseason eligibility, Ryan led the team to a sweep of the 2013 NCAA women’s indoor and outdoor titles. 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, 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 Athlete 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 student-athletes also garnered multiple D2ADA Academic Achievement Awards and served the community of the San Francisco Bay Area with numerous volunteer activities.
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 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 Championships.
Prior to his stint at Academic of Art, Ryan was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech, where he led the men’s and women’s sprints and hurdles from 2007-10. During his three seasons at the school, Ryan produced 25 individual WAC champions, 72 All-WAC awards, 59 NCAA championships 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 recipient.
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, he helped more than 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 titles, 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 hte University of Central Florida.
As a student-athlete, Ryan attended UCLA and became a U.S. Junior All-American. He transferred to South Carolina for his final two years, where he became a NCAA All-American and All-SEC performer. He graduated from South Carolina in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. He has continued his professional education earing IAAF Level five Coaching distinction in sprints/hurdles. Ryan is also USATF Level II certified in the jumps, and he received a USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Coach Certificate in 2016.
