Ryan Held says community support, chance to settle down drew him to UNK
FULL INTERVIEW WITH RYAN HELD ON ESPN TRI-CITIES (12/21 show, 9:00 mark)
KEARNEY, Neb. — Nebraska Kearney’s new football coach is starting to spread the message about the future of the Lopers program.
UNK announced former Nebraska assistant and North Alabama interim head coach Ryan Held as its next head coach on Tuesday. He joined the Doug & Daddy Show on ESPN Tri-Cities on Wednesday and said one of the biggest pulls to come to Kearney was the immense community and fan support.
“I really feel the love and I feel like people there have just an incredible vested interest in Nebraska Kearney as an institution, athletics, obviously specifically football," Held said. "That was really appealing to me.”
The move takes Held out of Division l but brings him back to his head-coaching roots. The Kansas native has 12 years of head coaching experience at the NAIA, junior college and Division ll ranks. He owns a career 52-77 record but specialized in rebuilding downtrodden programs. It’s his first time taking over a consistent winner.
“Coach Lynn did a great job, I have a lot of respect for him," Held said. "We want to take the baton, obviously I gotta make it mine, but there’s a great foundation and we plan on building on that in taking this thing to the next level.”
Held hasn’t announced any assistant coaches yet but says he wants to keep at least some of the existing staff. He says he’ll carry over many of the run game concepts from the previous Loper offense but will introduce some new passing ideas.
“It’ll be fun to be a receiver in this offense because you gotta be able to do it all. You gotta be able to block, catch, get pitches, but yet go deep," Held said. "The intermediate, short passing game - that will really be a little bit different.”
Held has three kids, including a two-year-old and a four-year-old. He says he’s ready to settle down and hopes to stay at UNK.
“I’m not worried about other things, you know trying to get back to Division l. I’m going to be at Nebraska Kearney as long as I can," Held said. "I know coaches always say that, but I’m at a point in my life where this is what I want to do. I’m excited about it and I’m looking forward to the challenge and opportunity.”
Held will be introduced at a news conference on Jan. 3.