A native of Bangor, Northern Ireland, Ryan Elliott has helped guide the Spiders two Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championships, two Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances in his four seasons at Richmond.

Elliott and the Spiders are coming off winning the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship and reaching the NCAA Tournament after accomplishing the same feats in 2009. Richmond finished the 2009 season ranked No. 19 in the nation and knocked off No. 11 ranked California in the 2011 NCAA Play-In game to earn its seventh NCAA Tournament bid in the last 11 years.

Elliott was instrumental in Richmond's attack, which scored the fourth-most goals in school history (65) and tied the school record for goals in a game (12) in 2009. He mentored 2009 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year Sarah Blythe-Wood, who was named NFHCA Third-Team All-American after finishing 19th in the nation in goals per game (0.96) and 18th in points per game (2.35).

He also coached four-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection Katelin Peterson, who finished fourth on Richmond's all-time career list for points, goals and assists.

The Spiders have reached the Atlantic 10 title game in three of Elliott's four years on the sidelines and have compiled a 25-7 record against Atlantic 10 teams, including a 20-5 mark in conference regular-season play.

Prior to coming to the United States, Elliott was the head coach of the men and women's field hockey teams at Northumbria University, leading the women's first team to promotion into the Premier Section of the British University Sport Association National Hockey League. At Northumbria, he mentored numerous junior and senior internationals.

His most recent international coaching experience was working with Ards Women's Hockey Club in Northern Ireland under the tutelage of Gareth Grundie. Elliott helped Ards to a third-place finish and qualification for the Irish Hockey League (IHL) in 2010.

Elliott was also the player/assistant coach to the County of Northumberland men's team which finished as National Runner Up in the English Senior County Championship Division. Elliott has also coached various youth teams since 2000.

He graduated from the University of Northumbria with a Master's in marketing and an undergraduate degree in sports management. As a player at Northumbria, Elliott was the vice captain and is the university's all-time top goal scorer and has played and coached field hockey in Holland and New Zealand.

He was also a member of the Sullivan Upper School team, one of the better field hockey schools in Northern Ireland, along with the Bangor Hockey Club (Northern Ireland).