Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan opens up on car accident, recovery

Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan suffered numerous injuries in a car accident back in April and recently opened up about his recovery.

Talking with Nick Corey for The Mangled Ear, Ryan reflected on personal tragedy two decades ago and how he dealt with his current pain. Ryan has since undergone successful surgery and is currently rehabbing, attempting to walk, bike and eventually wrestle again.

There were a lot of questions Ryan asked himself as he laid in a hospital bed.

“There was an internal battle,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t doing well. You start to evaluate life. I asked myself, ‘Why are you so weak?’ I was forced to lay on my back for 12 days, and I was breaking by day three. I couldn’t find peace. There’s no way I could have predicted my mental state would have been so fragile. I’d lost a child; I’d already been through the worst. And thinking that would send me down a deeper hole.

“This was the second toughest unchosen suffering I’ve ever had to deal with. But, I was weaker in that hospital bed than when I lost (my son) Teague. I was physically healthy then. With Teague, I knew I had to respond for my family. My wife needed me. My kids were so young. They needed me. I’m not saying I was super strong going through Teague’s death. I wasn’t. It’s just that there was so much grief, and I knew I had to be there for my wife, my kids, the grandparents. It’s hard to explain.”

Ryan is quite religious. Relying on his faith and family, while also taking inspiration from a few books, he reminded himself of these tough lessons. 

“The dark phase is behind me,” Ryan said. “I have to accept some of those moments might return; my life has been completely disrupted. All of the good disciplines I enjoy have been taken from me for now. But, the worst is behind me.”

One book he read was Good to Great, which narrated the story of prisoners of war who didn’t make it home.

“Often it was because they thought they were getting out next week, or the week after, and when those days came and went, it broke them,” Ryan said. “They died of broken hearts. I need to have a healthy combination of optimism and realism. 

“I don’t know when I’m going to walk again. I know I will, but I don’t know the date that will happen. I don’t know when I’m going to bike again. I know I will, but I can’t put timelines or dates on it. If those dates come and pass and I’m not where I thought I should be, that can become a bad place all over again. I’ve gotta be careful. I want to be walking by the first practice of the season. If I’m not, it’s okay. It’s not written in blood. It’s a goal.”

Not only that, but Ryan plans to get back on the mat with his Ohio State wrestlers. An accomplished wrestler in his time, it’s only natural for him to roll around once more with one of the top programs in the country.

“And, I hope I can wrestle with the guys again; wrestling with them is one of the ways this sport helps build bonds, trading grit and sweat sparring together,” Ryan said. “I want that back. I don’t know if I’ll ever get it, but I want it.”

Ryan is a legend in the wrestling community. He holds a 322-150-2 career record in duals as a head coach, including a 213-68 record with Ohio State after coming over from Hofstra.

He was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023 and coaches to this day. He went into the Hofstra Hall of Fame that same year.

Ohio State won the 2015 national title under Ryan’s guidance and were also national runner-ups in 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Ryan was named the National Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2015 and the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2015, 2017 and 2018.