Colorado State University Athletics
Track & Field Welcomes Back Assistant Coach Ryan Baily
6/1/2021 1:14:00 PM | Track & Field
Rams Fill Multi/Jump Coach Specialty with a Familiar Face
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – After a year away from coaching, the urge to return was too much and the vacancy was there for Ryan Baily who rejoins the Colorado State track and field staff, announced Tuesday by head coach Brian Bedard.
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Baily slides into the assistant coach role overseeing multis and jumps, which was the same assignment he held from 2014 to 2019 – one of the most successful stretches in the combined events in program history. In his five years, Baily guided multiple athletes to a combined 10 school records, 16 Mountain West individual titles, three All-America honors and two Honorable Mention All-America honors.
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"I am very blessed to be back coaching collegiately with the Colorado State track and field program," Baily said. "I left in 2019 to pursue something I had always been interested in, which was serving the community as a police officer. I learned some invaluable skills while with the Fort Collins Police Department, but I began to miss coaching. It was a big part of my life for 17 years and I wanted to return to it. After leaving the force this past December, I began coaching youth performance classes in Windsor, while also assisting current CSU volunteer coach Chris Helwick and former Ram Hunter Price strive for Olympic trial standards. I never lost touch with coach Brian Bedard, so when the opportunity to return became a possibility, I jumped at the chance. I am thankful for Brian for welcoming me back to his championship staff and program. I am eager to make a difference again with the student-athletes here at CSU."
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Baily, originally from Scottsbluff, Neb., was a key part of the Rams' Mountain West sweep of the indoor and outdoor championships for both genders in 2019. He worked closely with Hunter Powell who won the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon at conference, marking the fourth sweep of the two events by a Ram in five seasons under Baily. In 2019, the Ram's decathlon squad finished the year as the top-ranked decathlon team in the NCAA.
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In the previous year, he helped guide Autumn Gardner to achieving the women's school record in the high jump at 1.84m and she concluded the season ranked eighth in the NCAA. During the 2016-17 indoor regular season, Hunter Price shattered the Mountain West and CSU records in the heptathlon and then reset his marks with his fourth-place finish at NCAA indoors.
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Prior to his time at Colorado State University, Baily was the head track & field and cross country coach at Chadron State. In his five years at Chadron State, Baily's men's team placed as high as ninth nationally in indoor track & field and 16th nationally in outdoor track & field. Baily's Chadron State teams broke 18 men's and 22 women's school records and featured 22 All-Americans and a Division II national champion. His teams were also honored for their work in the classroom, as his men's team earned the USTFCCCA's Scholar Team of the Year award in 2011.
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Between his time at Chadron and Western State (2005-09), Baily was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year seven times and was awarded USTFCCCA North Central Regional Coach of the Year in 2008.
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"I look forward to having coach Baily back on staff," Bedard said. "He carries a wealth of experience coaching nearly every event at some point in his career. Ryan has also been a head coach at two different programs which gives him a valuable perspective for the whole staff. He's one of the best technical coaches and motivators I've seen in coaching. Since he knows our system, he will be able to come in and hit the ground running with no learning curve, which is an advantage for recruiting and preparation going into the summer months."
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Baily was a conference champion in the decathlon at Chadron State. He was named the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year while attaining his bachelor's degree in education (2003) and added a master's degree in education in 2005 from the University of the Cumberlands. Baily resides in Fort Collins with his wife, Janel, and the couple's two children, Jayden and Trenton.
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Baily slides into the assistant coach role overseeing multis and jumps, which was the same assignment he held from 2014 to 2019 – one of the most successful stretches in the combined events in program history. In his five years, Baily guided multiple athletes to a combined 10 school records, 16 Mountain West individual titles, three All-America honors and two Honorable Mention All-America honors.
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"I am very blessed to be back coaching collegiately with the Colorado State track and field program," Baily said. "I left in 2019 to pursue something I had always been interested in, which was serving the community as a police officer. I learned some invaluable skills while with the Fort Collins Police Department, but I began to miss coaching. It was a big part of my life for 17 years and I wanted to return to it. After leaving the force this past December, I began coaching youth performance classes in Windsor, while also assisting current CSU volunteer coach Chris Helwick and former Ram Hunter Price strive for Olympic trial standards. I never lost touch with coach Brian Bedard, so when the opportunity to return became a possibility, I jumped at the chance. I am thankful for Brian for welcoming me back to his championship staff and program. I am eager to make a difference again with the student-athletes here at CSU."
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Baily, originally from Scottsbluff, Neb., was a key part of the Rams' Mountain West sweep of the indoor and outdoor championships for both genders in 2019. He worked closely with Hunter Powell who won the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon at conference, marking the fourth sweep of the two events by a Ram in five seasons under Baily. In 2019, the Ram's decathlon squad finished the year as the top-ranked decathlon team in the NCAA.
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In the previous year, he helped guide Autumn Gardner to achieving the women's school record in the high jump at 1.84m and she concluded the season ranked eighth in the NCAA. During the 2016-17 indoor regular season, Hunter Price shattered the Mountain West and CSU records in the heptathlon and then reset his marks with his fourth-place finish at NCAA indoors.
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Prior to his time at Colorado State University, Baily was the head track & field and cross country coach at Chadron State. In his five years at Chadron State, Baily's men's team placed as high as ninth nationally in indoor track & field and 16th nationally in outdoor track & field. Baily's Chadron State teams broke 18 men's and 22 women's school records and featured 22 All-Americans and a Division II national champion. His teams were also honored for their work in the classroom, as his men's team earned the USTFCCCA's Scholar Team of the Year award in 2011.
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Between his time at Chadron and Western State (2005-09), Baily was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year seven times and was awarded USTFCCCA North Central Regional Coach of the Year in 2008.
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"I look forward to having coach Baily back on staff," Bedard said. "He carries a wealth of experience coaching nearly every event at some point in his career. Ryan has also been a head coach at two different programs which gives him a valuable perspective for the whole staff. He's one of the best technical coaches and motivators I've seen in coaching. Since he knows our system, he will be able to come in and hit the ground running with no learning curve, which is an advantage for recruiting and preparation going into the summer months."
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Baily was a conference champion in the decathlon at Chadron State. He was named the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year while attaining his bachelor's degree in education (2003) and added a master's degree in education in 2005 from the University of the Cumberlands. Baily resides in Fort Collins with his wife, Janel, and the couple's two children, Jayden and Trenton.
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