Ryan Edwards fells like he's home again.
He was a graduate assistant coach in the 2002-03, 03-04 seasons, when this year's senior class were first year freshmen. Edwards came to Northwestern because of his ties to head coach Mike McConathy - both graduated from Airline High School in Bossier City, where Edwards had tow English classes under Connie McConathy when Coach Mike was still at Bossier Parish Community College. One of Ryan's high school teammates was Chris Thompson, who played at BPCC and was McConathy's first NSU signee, eventually leading the Demons to the 2001 NCAA Tournament in his senior year.
Now he's back because he knew what he was getting into. When Demon standout Josh Hancock left the coaching staff during the summer to pursue a lucrative business opportunity, McConathy knew who he wnated and Edwards quickly accepted the offer to rejoin the Demons.
At the age of 25, Edwards already has six years of coaching experience, having served last season as an administrative assistant qat Texas-Pan American. Before his year at Northwestern, he coached three years at University Lab School in Baton Rouge while attending LSU. In 1999-2000, he was the seventh grade boys coach at U-High, then was promoted to work with the varsity from 2000-02, helping the Cubs win the state Class 2A championship in 2001-02 with a 32-4 record.
A three-year letterwinner as a guard at Airline, Edwards helped the Vikings to the Class 5A state semifinals in his junior year. He finished with perfect 4.0 grade point averages at Airline and at nSU, where he earned a bachelors degree in kinesiology and health and physical education and a masters degree in sports administration.
Edwards married his high school sweetheart, the former Alice Yunker. His mother, Leisha Edwards, lives in Baton Rouge and is Ryan's biggest supporter. His brother, Brad and Greg, are both doctors. His late father Dr. Thomas Edwards was a highly-respected orthopedic surgeon in Bossier City.
Edwards enjoys fly-fishing and traveling, along with visiting different sports venues.
