Ryan Hanson begins his first year at Concordia as a graduate assistant coach. 

Hanson will coach first base and serve as head coach Mike Grahovac's catching instructor.

Hanson brings in experience at both the collegiate and independent levels, where he played catcher through the 2007 season in the Frontier League. He earned coaching experience as the first-base coach and catching instructor at Orange Coast College in 2004-05.

A nominee for the Johnny Bench Award at NCAA Div. I University of San Francisco, where he played in 2003-04, Hanson hit .329 with seven doubles and a pair of homeruns in his junior year, earning All-West Coast Conference honorable mention recognition.

Before spending the 2001-02 season at Orange Coast College, where he garnered all-conference honors, Hanson attended NCAA Div. I UNLV in 1999-2001, playing baseball and football and earning All-Mountain West Conference and Academic All-Conference honors on the gridiron.

Hanson prepped at Los Alamitos High School, where he threw for 3,100 yards as a quarterback and hit .407 as a two-year starting catcher.

Hanson is single.