Matt Riley

Matt Riley is an assistant athletic director who oversees the strength and conditioning program for more than 300 student-athletes at Middle Tennessee. Riley, who is in his 19th year, was also instrumental in the design of the current weight room located adjacent to the football stadium.

A former offensive lineman under former athletics director and football coach Boots Donnelly, Riley returned to his alma mater to head up the weight and conditioning program and serve as strength coach in 1993 after heading two other programs following his graduation from Middle Tennessee.

Riley, a master strength and conditioning coach, is certified by the International Sports Science Association (ISSA) and CSCCA and is a member of each association as well as the NSCA and MSCC. As a player at Middle Tennessee in the mid-1980s, Riley was an offensive lineman on two of the most successful teams in program history. The Blue Raiders advanced into the Division I-AA national semifinals in 1984 and were undefeated and the No. 1-ranked team nationally in 1985.

Riley was an assistant to strength coach Doc Kreis at Middle Tennessee in 1988 before being hired as the head strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee Tech in 1989. He served in that capacity for two years before being named the strength and conditioning coach at Southern Mississippi in 1991, where he worked for two years before returning to his alma mater.

Riley and his wife, Rajayna, have two children: daughter, Madison Cate, and son, Jackson Rhoad.