Ryan Nehlen named McNeese tight ends coach while Tommy Reese adds special teams coordinator title

LAKE CHARLES – First-year McNeese Football head coach Gary Goff as announced the addition of Ryan Nehlen as the Cowboys’ tight ends coach.

Nehlen replaces Sean Fogarty who recently joined the staff at the as an assistant offensive line coach at the University of Arkansas.

In addition, current running backs coach Tommy Reese has added Special Teams Coordinator to his duties.

Nehlen comes to McNeese after spending the last 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 a daughter, Penelope. 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.