Ryan Nielsen (born March 20, 1979) is an American football coach and former defensive tackle.

Nielsen played defensive tackle at USC from 1997 to 2001, where he started 30 games and garnered an All-Pac 10 honorable mention in 1999.

[1] Upon graduating from USC in 2002, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2002 but did not make it past training camp.

[3] He also had stints at Central Connecticut State and UT Martin before being hired at Northern Illinois in 2011 as a co-defensive coordinator.

[6] Nielsen was offered the defensive coordinator position at LSU in 2021, but elected to remain with the Saints where he was promoted with the added title of assistant head coach in 2021.