Riverhead alum takes over coaching fledgling track team
Riverhead high school alum Ryan Budd has won championships during every stop in his athletic and coaching career, many of them a first in each program’s history. That success has led him to a new challenge, one he’s never faced before. Mr. Budd recently accepted the head coaching position for the Western Connecticut State University track and field team — a team that didn’t exist before this season.
As a member of the Riverhead Blue Waves, he competed in the hurdles and the 4-x-400 meter relay for the track team. Mr. Budd was part of the 2008 football team that won its first Long Island championship in school history. It proved a first in a series of firsts. After completing high school, Mr. Budd enrolled at Central Connecticut State University to continue his track career. In 2011, he was a member of the team that won that school’s first ever Northeast Conference indoor track and field title. In his senior season, he was on the team that won the CCSU’s first outdoor track and field title.
Mr. Budd was majoring in physical education but coaching a track team was always his main goal. During his senior season at CCSU, he was enrolled in only one class — the last credits he needed to graduate — so he had some free time. He asked his college coach if he could coach at a local high school for some extra money. She was all for it.
“That ended up opening my eyes a bit about coaching,” Mr. Budd said. “I went to coaching conventions across the country and tried to learn as much as I could, from recruiting to skill coaching.”
The natural next step was to be a graduate assistant, so Mr. Budd went on to earn his master’s degree in phys ed at the University of Central Arkansas, where he specialized in pole vault and multi-events coaching.
“The fact that I got a free degree with the coaching experience was really a win-win for me,” Mr. Budd said. “I learned so much about coaching at the college level and it set me up for my next opportunity.
“Oddly enough I always told myself I would never get a job in New York City, but my career kind of took me there.”
Following his two years at Central Arkansas, Mr. Budd returned home to Riverhead in hopes of finding a job in coaching. He worked in the fields at Paumanok Vineyards trying to figure out his next move.
“I was researching for jobs online and I saw that Wagner College was hiring a graduate assistant position,” Mr. Budd said. “So obviously I had already done that so I couldn’t do it again. But the fact that Wagner was in the NEC conference where I played and coached, I thought maybe the guy there knows me. I sent Joe Stasi an email saying I ran for CCSU and saw that there was a grad assistant position open but that I was hoping there was another position available as well. He got back to me around two days later and offered me a part-time position with housing.”
Mr. Budd was working in the middle of a vineyard field when he got the call; he jumped at the opportunity and left that day. His time at Wagner College brought more success. During his years there, Wagner won its first-ever NEC titles for men’s cross country, indoor and outdoor track. Though he was finding success and enjoyed the job, the city life just wasn’t for him.
“My current wife, and girlfriend at the time, was still in Connecticut and we were dating from when we met at college,” Mr. Budd said. “Me leaving Wagner was more of a life change to kind of progress in our relationship. I moved in with her and became a middle-school physical education teacher.”
But being a teacher didn’t fulfill his true passion. He missed coaching college athletes, so he reached out to his old coach at CCSU, Eric Blake, and asked if he had any positions open. Mr. Budd came on board as a part-time jumps coach for CCSU and continued teaching part-time. As a coach at CCSU, both women’s and men’s cross country teams won NEC titles. In 2024, men’s and women’s track & field teams won conference crowns.
Through all the success, Mr. Budd’s desire to be a full-time head coach never wavered. When an opportunity arose at Western Connecticut State to head its track and field program, he immediately applied. Out of 70 applicants, Mr. Budd got the job.
“For me, taking the coaching position at West Conn, it’s like the cherry on top of the cake,” he said. “I can sail off into the sunset if I can bring West Conn a first-ever championship. I would love to be able to say I was part of first-ever championships for four different schools.”
Mr. Budd’s work is definitely cut out for him. Western Connecticut State has never had a track and field program. The school doesn’t even have facilities. But that doesn’t scare Mr. Budd. He loves the challenge.
“Anywhere that you start brand-new there’s going to be challenges,” he said. “At the college level, every place is drastically different from one another. The challenge for me is how to get West Conn’s name out there on a track and field level. It’s about creating a reputation that’s positive, that’s competitive. Recruitment will be a major part of it. We need to grow the program as a whole. I need to build a staff, build an alumni foundation, fundraising and eventually get facilities. Nothing scares me. I’m ready to put in the work and, typically, the more you do, the more that comes your way.”
If history is any indication of what’s to come, another first-ever championship will be on Mr. Budd’s resume in due time.
