Staff Directory
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Ryan Langford recently completed his 16th season as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan field hockey program. A long-time fixture on the USA Field Hockey men's national team, Langford has more than 20 years of experience as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level.
Since joining the Michigan coaching staff, Langford has helped guide Michigan to five Big Ten Conference titles (2010, '11, '17, '18, '20) and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including nine of the last 10. The Wolverines have enjoyed an particularly successful stretch over the last eight seasons (2017-24), with three Big Ten regular-season titles, four tournament crowns and a pair of trips to the NCAA Final Four, including a national runner-up finish in spring 2021.
U-M excelled in a busy 2021 calendar year that featured two competitive seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The spring 2021 Wolverines posted a 15-3 record, swept the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles and reached the NCAA championship game, where they dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to two-time defending champion North Carolina. U-M ranked among the national leaders with a sterling 0.61 goals-against average, 10 shutouts and just 7.9 shots and 3.8 penalty corners allowed per game. That fall, Michigan posted a 16-5 record, earned the No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history, reached the NCAA quarterfinals and matched a program high with four NFHCA All-Americans.
The Wolverines captured back-to-back Big Ten regular-season titles in both 2017 and 2018 and 2010 and 2011. Notably, in 2017, Michigan swept the Big Ten regular-season and tournament crowns and recorded a program-record 21 wins, including 18 in a row, en route to the NCAA Final Four. U-M boasted the 2017 Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in Katie Trombetta and Sam Swenson, respectively, while Meg Dowthwaite joined the duo on the NFHCA All-America teams.
U-M has produced 27 total All-Americans since Langford's arrival on staff, including four-time honoree Rachael Mack (2010-13), fellow first-teamers Lauren Thomas (2012-15), Katie Trombetta (2014-17), Emma Way (2015-18), Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort (2017-19), Halle O'Neill (2017-20), Sofia Southam (2018-21) and Abby Tamer (2021-pr.) and the program's first All-America goalkeepers, Sam Swenson (2014-17) and Anna Spieker (2018-21).
Prior to arriving at Michigan, Langford served two seasons as an assistant coach at James Madison (2007-08), where he helped revitalize the Dukes' program over his brief tenure. Last season, JMU posted the third-best winning percentage in the nation (18-3), going undefeated in Colonial Athletic Association play for the first time in 13 years en route to its third straight CAA title and NCAA Tournament appearance.
Langford also previously served as an assistant coach at Temple University (2005-07), Appalachian State (2000-05) and Southwest Missouri State (1999-2000). He received USA Field Hockey Level III coaching certification -- the organization's highest level of coaching accreditation -- and currently serves on the USA Field Hockey Athletes Advisory Committee.
In addition to his coaching credentials, Langford brings a wealth of valuable international playing experience to the Wolverine program. A seven-year member of the USA Field Hockey men's national team (1994-99, 2001-03), Langford boasts 26 international caps. As team captain, he contributed to the men's national team's fifth-place showing at the 1999 Pan-American Games and, in 2001, was part of a team that qualified for the World Cup. After being selected as an alternate to the 1996 Olympic team, he lived and trained as an Elite Resident Athlete in the San Diego Olympic Training Center before heading off to Atlanta. Langford also played for the U.S. National Indoor team for five seasons (1997, 2001-03, '05), participating in the 2002 Indoor Pan-American Cup and the 2003 Indoor World Cup.
A native of Camarillo, California, Langford graduated from the Appalachian State University in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in geography, specializing in geographic information systems. He is married to the former Maren Ford, who served four seasons as U-M's volunteer coach and was a member of the USA Field Hockey national team. The couple was married in July 2011 and are parents to son Silas and daughter Reese.
