Good Sports: Husband and wife coaching Fresno State women’s basketball together

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Coach Ryan and Coach Jenna’s relationship started while they lived thousands of miles apart.

“For a year, from Alaska to Florida,” Jenna said.

Now at Fresno State, they’re closer than ever.

“This has kind of been a dream scenario for me,” Ryan said.

The McCarthys brought their talents to the same staff, both coaching women’s basketball.

Now, their partnership brings a unique aspect to this bulldog team

“Maybe I can help him understand the girls better or help them understand where he’s coming from as a head coach,” Jenna said. “I take a lot of pride in that, especially with girls. I can understand them on a different level.”

“She’s a very good offensive mind, and so it’s good because it’s a totally different school of thought than what I learned under,” Ryan said. “I take some of the things she has for me, apply that in practice and the game and stuff like that. If we lose, it’s her fault, and if we win, it’s mine.”

It’s their dynamic that makes it easy to go to work together.

“I genuinely love spending time with him,” Jenna said. “Being able to go to work with him every day, I have so much fun. I have so much fun just being able to be around him, and part of it is because you’re funny.”

Together, Ryan and Jenna eat, sleep and breathe basketball.

“We go to bed thinking about our team,” Ryan said. “We wake up thinking about them, how to make it better and we’ve given our life to this program and these girls. We’re on the same page with that. When we do have a disagreement on something, we both know and understand that our mission is the same.”

It’s that shared drive and respect that continues to push the McCarthys and the Bulldogs forward.

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