Ryan George Lindley (born June 22, 1989) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who is currently the senior offensive analyst at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

, and was selected by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in the sixth round of the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. Lindley was also a member of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

, and

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

Early life and college

Lindley attended El Capitan High School in

Lakeside, California Lakeside is a census-designated place (CDP) in the East County region of San Diego County, California. The population was 21,152 at the 2020 census, up from 20,648 as of the 2010 census. History Lakeside was home to the Kumeyaay prior to ...

. As a senior, he threw for 3,521 yards and 35

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

After not playing in his first year on campus at

in 2007 while Kevin O'Connell was the

Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...

' starter, Lindley started 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2008. During the season, he completed 242 of 427 passes for 2,653 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. As a sophomore in 2009 he started 12 games and completed 239 of 437 passes for 3,054 yards with 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. As a junior in 2010 Lindley completed 243 of 421 passes for 3,830 yards, 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He helped lead the Aztecs to the

2010 Poinsettia Bowl The 2010 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the San Diego State Aztecs and the Navy Midshipmen on December 23, 2010 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The sixth edition o ...

, their first

Bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

since the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl. He helped them defeat the

Navy Midshipmen The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 36 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). On November 18, 2012, he replaced John Skelton in a loss to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. He made his first professional start on November 25 against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. In his first season, he posted a very low 46.7 passer rating and threw 7 interceptions compared to 0 touchdowns. After two seasons with the team, Lindley was released by the Cardinals on August 25, 2014.

San Diego Chargers

Lindley signed with the

and was assigned to their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on August 31, 2014.

Arizona Cardinals (second stint)

On November 11, 2014, Lindley re-signed with the Cardinals after a season-ending injury to Carson Palmer. On December 11, 2014, starting

Drew Stanton was injured in the game against the Rams, Lindley entered the game and saw his first in-game action since 2012. On December 28, 2014, against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, Lindley threw his first career

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

pass to Michael Floyd, ending an NFL-record 228 pass attempts without a touchdown to start his career. He finished the 2014 season with a 48.4% completion rate, 562 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and a 56.8 passer rating. On January 3, 2015, in the Cardinals' first-round playoff game at the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

, Lindley completed 16 of 28 passes for 82 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He had a passer rating of 44.3 and Arizona lost 27–16. The Cardinals totaled 78 yards of offense, the fewest in NFL playoff history.

New England Patriots

On August 10, 2015, Lindley agreed to terms with the

. On September 5, 2015, the Patriots released Lindley after the last preseason game.

Indianapolis Colts

On December 29, 2015, Lindley signed with the

. On January 3, 2016, Lindley split time with fellow recent signee Josh Freeman in the Colts season finale against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

and went 6/10 for 58 yards and a touchdown in the 30–24 win.

Ottawa Redblacks

After not playing professional football for more than a year, Lindley signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) on February 2, 2017. Lindley saw the most action during the preseason for the Redblacks; he completed 18 of 30 pass attempts for 140 yards with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. Lindley made his first CFL start on September 22, 2017: Starting quarterback Trevor Harris and backup Drew Tate were both out with injuries. Lindley played very poorly, completing just 16 of 36 pass attempts (44.4%) for only 151 yards (4.2 yards per attempt), with one interception and the Redblacks were beaten handily by the Blue Bombers 29–9. Lindley was not much better in the team's next match against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

, completing 17 of 31 pass attempts (54.8%) for 161 yards (5.2 yards per attempt), with one touchdown and one interception. On March 6, 2018 Lindley was released by the Redblacks.

Professional career statistics

NFL

CFL

Coaching career

San Diego State (first stint)

Lindley was a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

at his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, San Diego State from 2017 through October 31, 2018.

Cleveland Browns

Lindley was hired as the running backs coach for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

on October 31, 2018, after running backs coach Freddie Kitchens was promoted to

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

. On January 14, 2019, he was named the Browns' quarterbacks coach.

Utah

In 2020, Lindley worked as an offensive analyst for the

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Mississippi State

In 2021, Lindley joined

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

as a defensive analyst.

San Diego State (second stint)

Lindley was named the quarterbacks coach at San Diego State on October 2, 2022. He became the offensive coordinator in 2023. He became senior offensive analyst in 2024.

Personal life

After being released by the Colts, Lindley's agent, Rep 1 Sports, hired him as a coach. He was tasked with getting

Carson Wentz Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS national championships as the starter. Wentz was s ...

and

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, setting Pac-12 Conference single- ...

ready for their NFL Combine and Pro Day performances. In 2014, Lindley was a stand-in body double for Andrew Luck in a Visa commercial that featured Cardinals teammate Larry Fitzgerald. The commercial also featured

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

and

Colin Kaepernick Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and former professional football quarterback. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he gained na ...

through CGI. At San Diego State University, Lindley majored in Social Science Teaching.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindley, Ryan 1989 births Living people Players of Canadian football from San Diego Players of American football from San Diego Coaches of American football from California American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks San Diego State Aztecs football players Arizona Cardinals players San Diego Chargers players New England Patriots players Indianapolis Colts players Ottawa Redblacks players San Diego State Aztecs football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Utah Utes football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches