Gannon University head football coach Erik Raeburn announced the appointment of Bryan Nardo as defensive coordinator in February 2022. Nardo joins the Gannon program after serving the last two seasons as the linebackers coach at Youngstown State.
“We are very excited to add someone with Bryan’s experience to our staff,” related Raeburn. “In eight years as the defensive coordinator at Emporia State, his defenses performed at a high level against great competition week in, week out. I believe his energy and enthusiasm will make an immediate impact on our program.”
Nardo brings 14 years of college coaching experience to the Gannon staff, nine of those years being spent as a coordinator at the Division II level. During that time he has mentored 25 All-Conference linebackers, seven of those receiving first team honors, and two earning All-American recognition.
He was named the Great Lakes Football Conference Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011 while working at Missouri S&T in Rolla, MO and in 2019 was selected as a member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
“I am thrilled to join the Athletics Family at Gannon University and cannot wait to get to work!,” exclaimed Nardo. “The opportunity to work alongside someone with Coach Raeburn’s track record is something I’m really looking forward to. This is, without a doubt, a great move for not only me, but for my family as well. Emma, Dominick and I are excited to get to Erie and start building relationships around the community.”
The linebackers thrived in Nardo’s at Youngstown State. He recruited and coached transfer Grant Dixon, who stepped right into the starting lineup in 2020 and became the first YSU linebacker to be named first-team All-MVFC since 2007. Dixon had a team-high 55 tackles, including an impressive 40 solo stops. He also had six TFLs, two sacks, a pair of forced fumbles, and an interception. Dixon followed that up with another all-conference performance in 2021, leading the Penguins in tackles (67) while adding two interceptions and two sacks.
Griffin Hoak also made a big impact in his first year as a full-time starter. Hoak was second on the team with 46 total tackles, including 31 solo stops. He had a team-leading three sacks during the spring campaign, and followed that up in the fall of 2021 with 47 tackles and again led the Penguins in sacks with four.
Prior to joining the Youngstown State staff, Nardo spent eight years as the defensive coordinator at Emporia State. He led a defense that helped the program to a 63-32 record with five postseason appearances. The 63 wins over eight seasons are more than any other decade of Emporia State football, and were the second-most in the MIAA during that time. The Hornets won two bowl games (2012 and 2018) while making the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 2013, 2015 and 2016, being ranked as high as No. 4 in the country.
His defense was regarded as one of the best in the country in forcing takeaways, producing 209 during his time in Emporia. The Hornets were the only Division II program in country to force 25-plus takeaways every year from 2102-16. Nardo coached two linebackers to All-American accolades during those eight years, Ben Carlson in 2012 and Jace McDown in 2019. They were the first to earn that honor for the Hornets since 1999. Six different Hornet linebackers recorded 100-plus tackles in a season, with two others recording over 90. In 2015, for the first time in MIAA history, all three starting linebackers at Emporia State surpassed 100 tackles.
In 2019, Emporia State was one of the best in the MIAA in almost every defensive category. The Hornets led the league in passing defense, while Lawson Holbert led the conference with seven interceptions, earning All-American honors in the process. ESU was second in total defense and third in rushing defense, which helped junior linebacker Jace McDown earn MIAA Athlete of the Year as well as All-American honors after finishing second in the league in total tackles. The unit’s success led to nine players from Emporia State’s defense earning all-conference awards following the season.
In 2018, Emporia State finished with another postseason appearance. The Hornets secured their fourth straight winning season for the first time since joining NCAA Division II and capped it off with a Corsicana Bowl Championship to finish 8-4. Nardo helped five players earn All-MIAA honors.
The Hornets finished the 2016 season with an 11-2 overall record, going 10-1 in the MIAA. ESU hosted an NCAA Division II Playoff Game for the first time in school history, defeating 13th-ranked Minnesota Duluth, 59-26, to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The defense ranked in the top three in the MIAA in defensive scoring average and ended the year with 39 sacks. Kole Schankie led the nation in interceptions by a linebacker with seven.
In 2015, Nardo's defense helped the team to an 11-3 record and trip to the NCAA Division II regional final securing Emporia State’s first ever victories in the Division II Playoffs. He guided a defense that was second in the MIAA in sacks with 40 and third in the league in interceptions with 17. The Hornets finished in the top 10 in the country with 32 takeaways, 103 tackles for loss and 40 sacks. The 40 sacks were the second most in a single season since the program began in 1893.
In 2012, Nardo’s first season in Emporia, the Hornets went to the Postseason for the first time in nine years, finishing the season 10-2 with a victory in the Kanza Bowl. The next season showed continued success as Emporia State made its first trip back to the NCAA Division II Playoffs since 2003, finishing the season 9-2.
Before going to Emporia State, Nardo spent a season at Missouri S&T. Nardo joined the Missouri S&T football program for the 2011 season as the coach the linebackers and was the special teams coordinator. He was named the Great Lakes Football Conference Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the Miners improve from a 3-8 record in 2010 to 6-5 in 2011. Both starting linebackers earned first team All-GLFC honors and the Miners led the GLFC in net punting, punt return yardage defense, and kickoff return yardage. They finished the season ranked 20th in NCAA Division II in yards per punt return at 5.7 yards per return.
Nardo was a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Ohio University, from 2008-10. While at Ohio, he coached the nickel backs and outside linebackers. During his last two seasons with the Bobcats, Nardo assisted a defensive unit at Ohio that earned bowl berths, making the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl in 2009 after winning the Mid-American Conference’s Eastern Division title and the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in 2010.
Nardo served as a student coach at Ohio from 2004-08, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management in 2008.
A native of Shadyside, Ohio, he graduated from St. John Central High School. Coaching football runs deep in the Nardo family as his father, Perry, and two brothers, Matt and Luke, are all members of the coaching profession.
Bryan and his wife, Emma, have two sons, Dominick Paul, and Elijah Ray, born on June 20, 2022.
