About Me

Ryan Horton

Coach Ryan Horton is the owner and operator of Horton Barbell.

Coach Horton has been a Strength and Conditioning Coach and Sports Scientist for over 20 years. He is currently the Director of Football Strength and Conditioning at the University at Buffalo.

Coach Horton helped take over a team that won 3 games the year prior to a 9-4 record, one of the biggest turnarounds in college football that season. That season culminated with a decisive win over Liberty in the Bahamas Bowl.

Before Buffalo, he worked for 3 years as the Director of Applied Sports Science with the Georgia Tech football team. There, he ran the Catapult system to help maximize off-season and in-season training and practice plans. He also oversaw the sleep program using Oura Rings.

He worked with the football coaches, strength and conditioning, athletic training and nutrition staff to help make data-driven decisions to optimize player performance.

He also worked directly with Pressley Harvin (pictured above), who won the Ray Guy award in 2020, given to the best college football punter in the nation each year.

Prior to Georgia Tech, Coach Horton spent two years at Temple University with the football team, working in the weight room as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach as well as running the Catapult system.

He helped the Temple Owls reach bowl games in both years he was there. He also coached over a dozen players who went on to the NFL, 11 of whom are still active in the NFL in 2023.

Before Temple, Coach Horton served as the Director of Sports Performance at Elon University. There he oversaw the training for all 16 sports. He worked directly with football and women’s track. He had the opportunity to coach one of the only players in school history, Oli Udoh, to be drafted in the NFL by the Minnesota Vikings.

The track team won back-to-back conference championships in the two years he was there. Sydney Griffin won CAA Track Athlete of the Meet in 2016 and Emily Dixon was awarded CAA Rookie of the Year in 2015.

Prior to Elon, Coach Horton jumped into the private sector, working as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Elkin Sports Performance. There he worked with Jason Elkin to oversee the training for all athletes in the facility. He also oversaw the NFL Combine Training at ESP which saw multiple players land in the NFL.

Coach Horton’s first school change was to Florida International University where he oversaw the training for the Volleyball, Women’s Basketball and Track and Field teams. In that time, the Volleyball team went a combined 60-11, with two NCAA Tournament Bids and a Conference Championship.

He also assisted with the football team that had the first winning season, bowl appearance and bowl win in school history.

Coach Horton started his career at the University of Tennessee where he spent five seasons working his way up from a Volunteer to a full-time Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. In his time there he oversaw training for the Men’s Tennis team which won an NCAA Tournament bid in 2008 and had multiple players go on to pro careers.

He also assisted with the football, baseball and swimming and diving teams.

He holds a degree in Exercise Science, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and was a four-year letter winner and captain of the football team at Otterbein College.

I’ve had the opportunity to work at some amazing places like the University of Tennessee, FIU, Elkin Sports Performance (a training facility in Richmond, VA), Elon, Temple and Georgia Tech.

I’ve been a part of conference championship teams and bowl games and I’ve had the opportunity to work with dozens of future pro athletes.

I love strength and conditioning and the role it can play in helping athletes maximize their athletic potential and accomplish their athletic goals and aspirations. Seeing hard work pay off on gameday is what has continued to drive me for almost two decades.

Horton Barbell is my way of trying to pay forward some of the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the course of my career to other coaches wanting to learn and to athletes that are trying to better themselves.

Coach Horton