Ryan Conry - Football Coach - Texas Tech Red Raiders

Ryan Conry

Title:
Assistant Defensive Backs Coach

Ryan Conry enters his fourth season on the Texas Tech staff and his first as the assistant special teams coordinator. Conry previously was part of Texas Tech’s defensive staff during his first three seasons, working directly with the Red Raider secondary.

Conry arrived at Texas Tech after serving as a defensive graduate assistant at Cal during the 2019-20 seasons. The Golden Bears played in the Redbox Bowl in Conry’s first season as Cal ranked 33rd nationally in scoring defense after allowing only 21.9 points per game. Cal was among the Pac-12 leaders in scoring defense again a year later after surrendering only 26.5 points per game.

The Red Raiders have seen a similar rise defensively as Texas Tech gave up only 26.0 points per game in 2023, its lowest clip since 2009. Texas Tech defeated power-five foes in each of its first two of three bowl appearances during Conry’s tenure, topping Ole Miss in the 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl and then Cal in the 2023 Radiant Technologies Independence Bowl.

Between his time at both Cal and Texas Tech, Conry has worked with 11 players who have earned NFL opportunities, a list that includes Jaylinn Hawkins, Ashtyn Davis, Camryn Byrnum, Elijah Hicks and Daniel Scott at Cal and then Marquis Waters, Dadrion Taylor-Demrson, Tyler Owens, Rayshad Williams, Brayln Lux and C.J. Baskerville during his three seasons at Texas Tech.

Waters, playing the “star” position in Texas Tech’s defensive system, ranked second among defensive backs with 13.0 tackles for a loss as a senior in 2022 before signing as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets. Taylor-Demerson was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals after a strong final two seasons where he combined for seven of his 10 career interceptions and was among the team leaders with 73 tackles both years. Owens was an undrafted free agent signee that developed into one of Washington’s top special teams standouts on its NFC Championship team.

All five defensive backs Conry worked with at Cal enter the 2025 season on NFL rosters, meanwhile, as Davis, a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy (nation’s top walk-on), was selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. Byrnum heard his name called in the fourth round a year later by the Minnesota Vikings, while Hicks was chosen in the seventh round of the 2022 draft by the Chicago Bears and Scott was picked in the fifth round of the 2023 draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Hawkins, an undrafted free agent, enters his sixth NFL season in 2025 as a member of the New England Patriots.

Conry was hired at Cal after previously serving as a student coaching intern while earning his undergraduate degree from Ohio State. Conry began his tenure with the Buckeyes as a recruiting intern for the 2014-15 campaigns before later working with the cornerbacks position room for the remainder of his tenure. Conry was part of the Ohio State program when the Buckeyes claimed the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2014.

Conry, a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Ohio State University in 2018 and then his master’s in public health from the University of California-Berkeley in 2022.