Coaching in the DNA
Ryan Dall grew up in a coaching family in New York; sports was all he was surrounded by. Going to Madison Square Garden with a camera to the Millrose Games at eight years old, dreaming of one day being mentioned alongside athletes like pole vaulter Earl Bell.
The little boy who once sat at home rewatching his favorite athletes grew up to become a coach, helping others improve their craft for a living.
“My wife and I would bring him to all the meets and practices all the time. So, from the time he could basically walk he was involved, in one way or another, in track and field. He was the team captain of our team in high school, and he was really like having another coach with us,” Eugene Dall, father of Ryan Dall, said.
Dall attended the University of Miami. This is where he earned the 1995 Big East Conference indoor and outdoor pole vault championship and finished in fourth place in the 1999 Big East decathlon.
He graduated from Miami in 1999, he also served as an assistant coach at Duke for five years and at Florida International University for four years. Dall would then join the Javelina family in 2009. Coach Dall is among the longest tenured coaches at TAMUK going into year 17.
“Just seems like it’s been very quick, honestly,” Dall said. “It’s been a fun time here. It’s been great working with these athletes. I’m grateful to have been able to be here this long and be able to build a program. Also, to be able to get it to where it’s a nationally recognized program.”
Building a program that’s mentioned throughout the national ranks isn’t the easiest.
“His program has done a great job being relevant in the national conversation,” Director of Athletics Mike Salinas said. “In 2018 we won the National Championship on the men’s side and this year he’s qualified for the largest group ever in school history with qualifying 16 athletes to the national indoor meet. So, he continues to produce on the field and in the classroom as well.”
Dall has done more than just be a coach at TAMUK. He’s laid his roots in Kingsville, Texas, and has a family here. Dall’s father, Eugene ‘Papa’ Dall, after coaching at North Rockland High School in Thiells, N.Y., for 47 years, is now in his seventh year with the Javelinas.
“Well, coaching together was always something we had talked about. It was just me, my wife, dog, and we didn’t want to miss our granddaughters growing up. So, seven years ago on Dec. 23, we loaded two huge Pensky trucks and drove down,” Eugene Dall said.
In a family rich environment there’s no better place for another father-son duo than in Javelina Athletics.
“He’s the reason I am a track coach and that I was a track athlete,” Dall said. “So, I mean, there wouldn’t be any ‘Coach Dall’ without him. It’s 100% thanks to him that I’ve gotten involved in this sport.”
Eugene Dall said, “His general overall dedication to the sport. The way he handles the athletes on the team and he’s always pursued more knowledge about the sports. So, I really think he’s made himself into a dynamic coach.”
During his tenure he’s been a three-time LSC Outdoor Men’s Track & Field Coach of the Year, two-time LSC Indoor Men’s Track & Field Coach of the Year and a two-time men’s squad Lone Star Conference champion. He’s also seen countless of his athletes perform at the national level including his record setting 16 athletes heading to nationals this season.
Even in just his 26 years of coaching, if Dall were to walk away from coaching tomorrow, he’d be leaving behind a career that speaks for itself.
