Ryan Nielsen
Ryan Nielsen (born March 20, 1979) is an American football coach who is currently the assistant head coach & defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL).
New Orleans Saints | |
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Position: | Assistant head coach & defensive line coach |
Personal information | |
Born: | Los Angeles, California | March 20, 1979
Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Weight: | 285 lb (129 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Royal (CA) |
College: | USC |
Undrafted: | 2002 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
As coach: | |
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As administrator: | |
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Player stats at ArenaFan.com |
Playing career
Nielsen played defensive tackle at USC from 1997 to 2001, where he started 30 games and garnered an All-Pac 10 honorable mention in 1999.[1] Upon graduating from USC in 2002, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2002 but did not make it past training camp. He also spent time with the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League.[2]
Coaching career
Nielsen began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater USC in 2002. He also spent time as an administrative assistant at Idaho under former USC assistant Nick Holt. He was hired away as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss under his position coach at USC, Ed Orgeron and was promoted to defensive line coach before the season began.[3] He also had stints at Central Connecticut State and UT Martin before being hired at Northern Illinois in 2011 as a co-defensive coordinator.[4] He followed Huskies head coach Dave Doeren to NC State in 2013 to serve as his defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.[5] He added the title of run game coordinator in 2014.
New Orleans Saints
Nielsen was hired as the defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints on February 9, 2017.[6]
After initially accepting the defensive coordinator position at LSU, Nielsen remained with the Saints and added the title of assistant head coach in 2021.[7][8]
References
- "USC's Claridge, Gibson Make All-PAC-10 First Team". USC Athletics. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "Get to know new Saints assistant Ryan Nielsen". New Orleans Saints. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "Ryan Nielsen Promoted To Defensive Line Coach At Ole Miss". Ole Miss Athletics. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "NIU's Doeren continues to build defensive staff with Niemann, Nielsen". NIU Athletics. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "Ryan Nielsen hired as NC State assistant". Rivals. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "Ryan Nielsen fulfills dream to coach in NFL, brings passion to Saints defensive line". NOLA.com. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "Ryan Nielsen gets new title with New Orleans Saints, won't be LSU Tigers defensive coordiantor, sources say". ESPN. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- "Saints promote Ryan Nielsen to Assistant Head Coach, per report". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 20 January 2021.