Football
- Title:
- Director of Football Communications
- Email:
- katierya@usc.edu
- Phone:
- (213) 740-3805
Katie Ryan, USC’s director of football communications, enters her 13th season working with the USC football team. She is responsible for managing all communications and public relations efforts for the Trojan football program. She is one of seven women overseeing football communications in the Power Four conferences, and she is the youngest among the group.
During her time at USC, Ryan has promoted a Heisman Trophy winner, 17 First Team All-Americans, a Walter Camp Player of the Year, a Maxwell Award winner, a Thorpe Award winner, a Ray Guy Award recipient, a Jet Award winner, two Polynesian College Players of the Year, a Pop Warner Award winner, a CSC Academic First Team All-American, 50 NFL Draft selections (including the 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, the 2018 No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold and 7 other first rounders), 37 All-Conference selections, 5 Conference Players of the Year and many of the nation’s top football coaches.
Ryan has spearheaded a variety of communications plans that have made national news including developing a media plan for USC head coach Lincoln Riley’s hiring, in addition to the introductory press conference in late November of 2021. It was an elaborate event, with several hundred media, university officials and donors in attendance atop the Coliseum press box, with the Los Angeles skyline as the backdrop. Ryan also moderated the presser. In addition, she oversaw the communications plan for Caleb Williams’ Heisman Trophy campaign, Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy reinstatement and his College Football Hall of Fame induction, and she was a part of the strategic communications team that debuted USC’s move to the Big Ten Conference.
In 2022, during her first year as the Director of Football Communications at USC, Ryan:
- helped new head coach Lincoln Riley navigate the Los Angeles media market;
- developed and executed a successful public relations and promotional campaign to help quarterback Caleb Williams win the 2022 Heisman Trophy;
- promoted Williams and four other players to All-America First Team honors;
- and handled public relations efforts for a Trojan team that won seven more games than the previous year (tying the biggest one-season victory turnaround in USC history), played in the Pac-12 Championship Game and in the Cotton Bowl, and was in the running for a College Football Playoff berth.
While operating on college football’s national stage, Ryan’s public relations skills bring USC Football to the forefront of all sports news with other highly successful Los Angeles teams competing for coverage.
Ryan was the recipient of the 2023 Rising Star Award. The award is presented annually to two College Sports Communicators members in the University Division (NCAA DI) and in the College Division (NCAA DII, DIII, NAIA, Two-year Colleges, Canadian institutions) – with 10 years of service or less, whose work demonstrates their service, dedication, energy and enthusiasm to the profession and makes that individual a "rising star" in athletics communications.
She is also a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).
Ryan graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations. She was a student-athlete and setter on the women’s volleyball team.
In 2022, Ryan graduated from USC with a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Public Relations with a degree specialization in Sports and Entertainment.
