Ryan Ficken enters his second season as special teams coordinator with the Chargers in 2023 after leading the unit to turn around and rank among the NFL's best in his first year with the Bolts.
Ficken coordinated a special teams unit that led the NFL by allowing just 3.1 yards per punt return, which was the best average allowed by any Chargers team in 50 years. He also oversaw the AFC's top kicking unit, making 31-of-33 field goals (93.9 pct.) despite deploying three different kickers on the year due to injury. The team's 93.9 field goal percentage ranked No. 2 in the NFL in 2022 and led the AFC. Under Ficken's tutelage, the unit ranked 10th in the NFL by Pro Football Focus and No. 7 according to Rick Gosselin.
Los Angeles' unit saw three specialists win Special Teams Player of the Week — kicker Dustin Hopkins, kicker Cameron Dicker and punter JK Scott. The Bolts were the first known team to have two different kickers win the weekly honor in the same season. Dicker was also named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December/January, becoming the third Charger to earn an AFC Player of the Month award in their rookie season. Ficken tutored Dicker to earn All-Rookie honors from the Professional Football Writers of America and set the NFL's rookie single-season field goal percentage record among players with 15 attempts by making 21-of-22 field goals (95.5 pct.). Meanwhile, he also coached Scott to register a 41.5-yard net punting average, the best by a Chargers punter in 20 seasons and ranking fourth in the AFC among players with at least 60 punts. Scott, long snapper Josh Harris and wide receiver DeAndre Carter (as a return specialist) were all named Pro Bowl alternates on special teams.
Ficken spent the first 15 years of his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, serving as the team's special teams coordinator in 2021 after assisting the unit for the prior eight seasons. He directed a special teams unit that led the NFC and ranked second in the league in kickoff return average (26.5), as kicker Greg Joseph led the conference with 33 made field goals, including a conference-best seven makes of 50-plus yards. Ficken's unit was ranked ninth in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, while punter Jordan Berry's gross average of 46.5 yards per punt ranked the best in franchise history. Under Ficken's guidance, running back Kene Nwagnwu led the NFL with two kickoff return touchdowns and was named PFWA All-Rookie as a kick returner. Nwagnwu, fullback C.J. Ham and long snapper Andrew DePaola were all named alternates for the Pro Bowl on special teams.
In the eight seasons (2013-20) prior, Ficken assisted with a special teams unit that produced seven different players to earn NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He also helped coach wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson to be twice named a Pro Bowler at kick returner (2013, '16 seasons) and win NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in September 2013.
Ficken helped Minnesota lead the NFL with three fumble recoveries on punt coverage in 2020, as rookie safety Josh Metellus recovered two of the fumbles and led all NFL rookies with nine special teams stops. Running back Mike Boone won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after forcing one of the fumbles in a Week 4 win at Houston. One season prior, kicker Dan Bailey won the weekly conference award three times as the Vikings kicking unit totaled 121 points (postseason included) and made 22 field goals in a row, the longest streak in the NFL to close out the 2019 season. In 2017, kicker Kai Forbath was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after making a career-high six field goals in the Week 7 win vs. Baltimore. In the NFC Divisional Round victory over New Orleans, Forbath set the franchise record for the longest made field goal in the postseason, connecting from 53 yards out with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
In 2016, Patterson was named to his second Pro Bowl after helping the Vikings pace the NFL with three total return touchdowns. Patterson's 31.7-yard kickoff return average led the league, as he became the first player to own the NFL's top mark in kickoff return average in three separate seasons. Minnesota led the NFL in kickoff return average in back-to-back seasons in 2015-16. Cornerback Marcus Sherels totaled two punt return touchdowns in 2016, tying the NFL lead. Sherels had a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown in 2015, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in a Week 8 win at Chicago.
Ficken assisted the kickoff coverage to hold opponents to a return average of 20.7 yards, the fourth-best mark in the NFL in 2014. In a Week 13 win over the Panthers, wide receiver Adam Thielen blocked and recovered a punt, returning it 30 yards for a touchdown en route to NFC Special Teams Player of the Week recognition. In Ficken's first season coaching special teams, Patterson was named a first-team All-Pro at kick returner by The Associated Press and received his first Pro Bowl nod as the kick returner after setting Minnesota's single-season franchise records in kickoff return yards (1,393), kickoff return average (32.4) and kickoff return touchdowns (two), leading the NFL in all categories. Patterson's 109-yard kickoff return touchdown in Week 8 remains the longest kickoff return score in NFL history. In the punt return phase, Sherels set the team record with a 15.2-yard-average, ranking second in the NFL. In a Week 7 win at the Giants, Sherels finished the game with a single-game Vikings record of 119 punt return yards.
Before assisting with the Minnesota special teams unit, Ficken coached four seasons (2009-12) for the Vikings as assistant wide receivers coach. He helped Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin III garner Pro Bowl recognition in Ficken's first season at the position. Ficken contributed to Harvin's development, which saw the Florida product win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year recognition in 2009 after hauling in 60 passes for 790 yards and six touchdowns, moving the chains on 42 of those receptions. That same season, Rice recorded the first 1,300-yard receiving season in franchise history, finishing the campaign with 83 catches for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns. Harvin went on to lead the Vikings with 71 catches for 871 yards (12.2 avg.) and five scores in 2010, before hauling in a career-best 87 catches for 967 yards (11.1 avg.) and six touchdowns in 2011.
Ficken began his NFL career by serving as the assistant running backs coach for Minnesota for two seasons (2007-08). His first year featured 2007 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson, as Minnesota's run game led the NFL in 2007 with an average of 164.6 yards per game and as Peterson finished with 1,341 yards and 12 scores on the ground, adding Pro Bowl MVP to the trophy case in his first professional season. Peterson set the NFL's all-time single-game rushing record with 296 yards during his rookie season. The following year, Peterson led the NFL with 1,760 rushing yards, earning AP first-team All-Pro recognition and his second Pro Bowl selection.
A native of Centennial, Colo., Ficken broke into the coaching ranks as a defensive assistant (2004-05) and offensive assistant (2006) at UCLA after his playing career at Arizona State. During his time as a graduate assistant at UCLA, Ficken studied comparative education. Ficken played wide receiver two seasons (1998-99) for the Sun Devils and earned his bachelor's degree in business administration. As a player, he received the team's Scholar-Athlete Award and was a member of Gamma Beta Phi, the National Scholastic Honor Society.
Ficken and his wife, Andrea, have two sons, Wyatt and Jonathan, and one daughter, Gianna.
