Ryan Cidzik

Sports Performance Coach

Sport Responsibilities: Football
Home Town: Rome, NY
Currently Resides: Union City, CA
Birthday: January 20

Professional Education:

• Susquehanna University (BA)
• Louisiana Tech University (MS)

Years in the Sports Performance Industry: 13

Past Experience and Accomplishments

• 2014-Present
  Stanford University: Sports Performance Coach Football
• 2012-2013
  Columbia University, Director of Strength and Conditioning for Football and Outdoor Sports
• 2011
  University of Memphis, Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach
• 2010
  University of Memphis, Assistant Director of Football Strength and Conditioning
• 2009
  New York Jets, Assistant Strength Coach
• 2008
  Cleveland Browns, Assistant Strength Coach
• 2004-2007
  NFL Europe League, Director of Strength and Conditioning for NFL International Player Development
• 2006-2007
  Northwestern State University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
• 2004-2005
  Louisiana Tech University, Assistant Strength Coach
• 2003
  Louisiana Tech University, Graduate Assistant Strength Coach

Areas of Interest: Football training, concussion prevention, sports psychology, strength training.

Biography

Ryan Cidzik joins the Stanford Football Sports Performance program in February 2014 after serving as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Football and Outdoor Sports at Columbia University for the past two years. Coach Cidzik is considered by many to be one of the nation's most sought after coaches on the topic of concussion prevention for contact sport athletes. Over the years, he has published several articles and has been a keynote speaker and presenter at various NSCA clinics on his innovative system of neck testing and training methods for football. In his two seasons at Columbia, the Lions had the lowest concussion rate in the Ivy League dropping from 19 concussions the year before arriving down to 5.

Cidzik brings over a decade of NFL and collegiate experience as a strength and conditioning coach to the Stanford Sports Performance program. Prior to Columbia, Cidzik spent the previous two seasons as a strength and conditioning coach for the University of Memphis football team. He was the Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach in 2011 after serving as the Assistant Director of Football Strength and Conditioning in 2010. Cidzik was directly responsible for the physical and mental development of the student-athletes and supervised the training of 2011 NFL first-round draft pick and future ProBowler Dontari Poe (11th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs).

Before joining the Memphis coaching staff, Cidzik spent two years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in the NFL. From 2009-10, he worked with the New York Jets and was directly responsible for the physical development of all offensive and defensive linemen, while assisting with skill and mid-skill players. Cidzik helped rank the Jets the fifth least injured team in the NFL, and also helped them to the AFC Championship game during the 2009 season. Prior to his time with the Jets, Cidzik was an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2008, and was a volunteer assistant with the Browns in 2007. Cidzik was also the league strength and conditioning coordinator for NFL International Player Development for NFL Europe from 2004-07.

Cidzik has a wealth of experience coaching in the college ranks. He served as head strength and conditioning coach at Northwestern State University in Louisiana (2006-08), assistant strength and conditioning coach at Louisiana Tech (2003-06) and volunteer assistant at the University of Richmond (2003).

Cidzik earned his bachelor's degree from Susquehanna in 2001 and earned his master's degree of exercise science from Louisiana Tech in 2005. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC), a USA Weightlifting Certified Level-1 Club Coach, and is certified in Orthopedic Assessment (AIAM).

Cidzik was a four-year letter winner and two-year starter at fullback for Susquehanna University from 1997 through 2000, helping the Crusaders win conference championships in 1998 and 1999. After his college football days, Cidzik became an accomplished powerlifter who has achieved Elite-Level status as a drug-free lifter. He has held powerlifting records in five different states, and was a two-time national champion at 220 pounds. Cidzik is the American Powerlifting Association's (APA) former world record holder in the squat. His best competitive lifts include a 786 lb. squat, a 500 lb. bench, and a 624 deadlift. Cidzik was also a competitive Muay Thai and Full Contact Rules kickboxer from 1997 to 2002 and again in 2008.

A native of Rome, N.Y., Cidzik and his wife, Aimee, welcomed their first child, Steele Thomas in December 2011.

"Live in vision, not in circumstance." -Dr. Kevin Elko