Steven Sipple: Ryan Held rebounds impressively after losing a Nebraska job “that was everything to me”
Ryan Held chooses his words carefully. Yes, he says, he learned from his experience as a Nebraska assistant coach. He coached running backs under Scott Frost from 2018 to 2021 before being fired with two games remaining in the 2021 season.
It was a “devastating” period for him, he says. After all, he lost his dream job.
Held, 48, quickly got back on his feet and spent this season as offensive coordinator and interim head coach at North Alabama, an FCS school in Florence, Alabama. He learned plenty in that job, too.
Tuesday, Held was introduced as head coach of the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
He kept fighting after his rough patch and look at him now.
It’s easy to appreciate people who keep fighting, isn’t it?
We’ve all seen the other side of that coin.
It’s easy to appreciate those who learn from defeats.
Transfer portal breakdown: Reviewing how the most active teams last offseason did on the field
Held says he’s learned to be patient
In his case, Held said, he’s learned to be more patient in player evaluation.
In recruiting, everything moves more quickly than ever because of the transfer portal, he said. But coaches must guard against getting too caught up in the rapid cycle.
“Sometimes, when you go too fast in trying to recruit certain people, you don’t adequately assess, ‘OK, does this kid truly fit what we’re trying to get done? Does he fit our scheme, fit our culture?’” Held said.
He makes the analogy of assessing a painting that looks good to you — until it’s in your house.
“What I’ve learned is to be more patient and make sure — using the painting analogy — that it’s really going to fit in the house,” he said. “As much as everyone knows I love recruiting, I’ve learned that you want to make sure you’re getting kids that at the end of the day will fit where you want your program to go.”
He’s also learned — or at least has a keener sense of — the reality that he works in what can be a cold business. If you don’t win at an acceptable level, pack your bags.
That’s what happened to him with Nebraska.
“That job was everything to me,” Held said. “I mean, when I was 2 years old, I loved Nebraska. I got to be a walk-on player there (from 1993 to 1996). I got to be a part of the best era of Nebraska history, and you could argue it was as good as any era in the history of college football.
“I got a chance to come back and coach there. I even have goosebumps now thinking about it. That’s crazy because I don’t work there anymore but it meant everything in the world to me.
“Then, all of a sudden, it’s gone.”
Losing Nebraska job was “crushing” blow
Held said it felt “crushing” in early November of 2021 when he was one of four Nebraska assistants who were let go by Frost – who then was let go himself this past September.
“For fans, I get it, they wanted us to win, and we didn’t win, you know?” Held said. “But for me as a person, I was devastated. It killed me. I mean, who likes to get fired? Nobody does. But it was more personal to me because I had so much vested in that place.
“I was disappointed we didn’t get it done. In my role, we didn’t get it done. We were all part of it, right? We all have to take ownership of it. And I get it. People see on Twitter, ‘Oh, Ryan Held gets fired.’ You have to report it. But there’s a real humanistic side where it sucks, man.
“It just sucks.”
I appreciate Held for keeping it real. For being brutally honest. He’s that way. Players also appreciate it. Recruits appreciate it. It perhaps means more to them when Held tells UNK recruits they will be developed on and off the field and will play in an excellent conference (the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Conference).
They might listen more closely when he tells them Kearney (population 33,960) is “big enough to where you have everything you need, but not too big.”
He feels his new job fits with where he wants to be in life and his career at this moment in time. For one, he said, he wanted to be a head coach again. He’s previously had head-coaching stints at five different small colleges and junior colleges.
He makes clear that his three-game experience as North Alabama’s interim head this season was beneficial.
He embraces what he describes as the “general manager aspect of putting together a roster.”
I always say it: Recruiting is an outdated word. “Roster management” is much more apt in this era of pervasive transferring in collegiate athletics.
Hoping to find job stability
He also likes the idea of having job stability.
“The moving around stuff and chasing this and chasing that, I didn’t want to do that anymore,” he said. “I want to put my family in a great place that’s committed to winning and committed to the student-athlete and developing them on and off the field.
“It’s also about being in a beautiful town and the support that’s here. You can’t believe the support here. It’s incredible how many people here are supportive of the Lopers.
“So, I just want to settle down with my family, coach ball and build a program. That’s where I’m at in my life.”
He kept fighting after the heartbreak. He’ll ask his players to do the same.
Maybe they’ll respond like their coach did.
