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

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

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is currently the quarterbacks coach at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) syste ...

. He played college football at San Diego State, and was drafted 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, an ...

in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Lindley has also been a member of the San Diego Chargers,

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

, and Ottawa Redblacks.

School career

High school

Lindley attended El Capitan High School in

Lakeside, California Lakeside is a census designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 20,648 at the 2010 census, up from 19,560 as of the 2000 census. History Lakeside was home to the Kumeyaay prior to European contact, who call ...

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

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

College

After not playing in his first year on campus at

in 2007 while Kevin O'Connell was the Aztecs' 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

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 ...

. 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, their first

Bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

since the

1998 Las Vegas Bowl The 1998 Las Vegas Bowl was the seventh edition of the annual college football bowl game. It featured the San Diego State Aztecs, and the North Carolina Tar Heels. It remains the only bowl game in NCAA history where both of teams which participate ...

. He helped them defeat the Navy Midshipmen 35 to 14 after completing 18 of 23 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns.

Statistics

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Lindley was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the

. On November 18, 2012, he replaced John Skelton in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He made his first professional start on November 25 against the St. Louis Rams. 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 San Diego Chargers and was assigned to their practice squad on August 31, 2014.

Arizona Cardinals (second stint)

On November 11, 2014, Lindley re-signed with the

after a season-ending injury to Carson Palmer. On December 11, 2014, starting

Drew Stanton was injured in the game against the St. Louis 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) 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 of the league's National ...

, Lindley threw his first career

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

pass to Michael Floyd, ending an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

-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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

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

Canadian Football League

Ottawa Redblacks

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

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(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 Trevor Harris (born May 31, 1986) is an American professional Canadian football quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Ha ...

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, 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.

Career statistics

Coaching career

San Diego State

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, 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. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

on October 31, 2018, after running backs coach

Freddie Kitchens Charles Frederick Kitchens Jr. (born November 29, 1974) is an American football coach who is a senior analyst for South Carolina. He was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and an assistant coach for the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, New ...

was promoted to offensive coordinator. On January 14, 2019, he was named the Browns' quarterbacks coach.

Utah

In 2020 Lindley worked as an offensive analyst for Utah.

Mississippi State

In 2021 Lindley joined Mississippi State as a defensive analyst.

San Diego State (second stint)

Lindley was named the quarterbacks coach at San Diego State on October 2, 2022.

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 football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Wentz played college football at North Dakota State, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS n ...

and Jared Goff 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 and

Colin Kaepernick Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt d ...

through CGI. At

, 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 American players of Canadian football 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