Wake Forest head football coach Dave Clawson announced the addition of Ryan Crawford to the Wake Forest coaching staff. Crawford will be the 10th assistant coach on the staff as the NCAA allowed institutions to expand its coaching roster by one in January. Crawford will be a defensive assistant coach.
Crawford has served as an assistant coach at Harvard for the past six seasons where he worked with the secondary. He has been the special teams coordinator for the Crimson for the past four years.
“We are excited to add somebody with Ryan Crawford’s experience on defense and special teams to our staff,” said Clawson. “It is also nice to get a coach from North Carolina who has worked at other great academic schools and understands the role of the student-athlete.”
A 2001 graduate of Davidson College with a degree in biology, Crawford was an Associated Press first team All-America selection when he led the nation with eight interceptions. In 2000, he was named the I-AA Mid-Major Defensive Back of the Year as well as the I-AA Independent Defensive MVP. Crawford was Davidson’s Special Teams Player of the Year as well as the school’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2000. He was inducted into Davidson’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
Following his graduation, Crawford played professionally with the Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League and was on the preseason camp roster of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 2007. In addition, he worked as a stuntman and featured extra in the movie “Radio” starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Crawford spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons coaching at Davidson where he worked with the quarterbacks in 2003 and the defensive backs in 2004. He moved on to Bucknell for three seasons as cornerbacks coach where he helped the Bison lead the Patriot League with 14 interceptions in 2007.
He spent four seasons at Rhode Island as defensive coordinator from 2008-11 before joining Harvard prior to the 2012 season.
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