Ryan Menley rejoined Missouri Western Athletics in March, 2024 and serves as the senior associate athletic director of external relations. He oversees marketing, communications, content and serves as the primary contact for the Gold Coat Victory Fund.
Menley is a familiar face to Griffon Athletics, having served as the department's director of creative content from 2010 to 2022. He returned to MWSU after a two-year stint as the associate athletic director for external relations at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
A St. Louis, Missouri, native, Menley called St. Joseph home for 20 years and covered Missouri Western Athletics for the entirety of those two decades. An Emmy award-winning journalist, he was the sports director for KQTV, the ABC affiliate in St. Joseph, from 2002-2010. Upon joining MWSU in 2010, he created the university's innovative athletic video production department from scratch. His "Griffon Sports Insider" brand included in-depth highlights, commercials and feature stories. At the time, the department was one of the first of its kind at the NCAA Division II level.
Menley oversaw the development of video board production and live broadcasts while also wearing multiple hats at Missouri Western. He was an adjunct professor in the university's department of communications and also a co-advisor for MWSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, helping raise thousands of dollars for community service projects. In the span of seven years, Menley won six National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) awards. He was the 2020-21 Service to the University Award winner at Missouri Western and was also the university's SOAR Advisor of the Year that same year.
