Ryan Nehlen joined McNeese's staff as the tight ends coach in July of 2022 and is in his second season with the Cowboys.
Nehlen came to McNeese after spending the previous four seasons as the offensive analyst at West Virginia under head coaches Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown.
Prior to returning to West Virginia, where he was a two-year letterman for the Mountaineers at wide receiver, he served two years as a graduate assistant for two years at Michigan where he worked with the offensive staff during the 2016 season and the defensive staff in 2017. The Wolverines won 10 games during the 2016 season.
Prior to arriving in Ann Arbor, he had a short stint as an offensive graduate assistant at Marshall and was the receivers coach for Glenville State during the 2015 season. He worked as a graduate assistant coach at Akron during the 2014 season.
He was a two-year letterman at wide receiver for the West Virginia University. Nehlen contributed to a successful offense and a team that held a 10-3 record in 2011 and a 7-6 record in 2012.
He was honored with All-Academic Team honors from the Big East (2011) and Big 12 (2012) during his career.
Nehlen earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from WVU in 2012. He and his wife, Micah, have two beautiful daughters. He is the son of WVU football equipment manager Dan Nehlen and the grandson of Hall of Fame and former WVU head coach Don Nehlen.
