Brian Coley, allied health program coordinator
RSU’s Allied Health Program Coordinator Brian Coley has been chosen as an inductee to the Mid America Athletic Trainers’ Association (MAATA) Hall of Fame class of 2025.
MAATA is a professional organization representing athletic trainers in District 5, a region encompassing several states in the U.S., including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Coley said when he learned of his selection, he found himself “speechless.”
“I found out about it earlier this month (January),” he recalled. “I was checking my email on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 16, just like a normal morning, when I saw I had a message from the president of MAATA. She said she wanted to talk to me, but didn’t say what it was about.
“About 45 minutes later, she called to inform me that I was going to be inducted into the MAATA Hall of Fame this year,” he said. “To be honest with you, it left me speechless – I felt kind of overwhelmed because of the trailblazers and icons who are in that hall of fame – Ken Rawlinson (former athletic trainer at the University of Oklahoma who worked with the U.S. Olympic team in 1960), George Sullivan (former head athletic trainer at the University of Nebraska), Dean Nesmith (former University of Kansas head athletic trainer who served in the position for 46 years), and so many others. To be regarded so highly as to be placed in the company of such legends is humbling.”
Coley is the ninth person from Oklahoma to receive this honor and the first from RSU.
“We are so thrilled about Mr. Coley’s induction into the MAATA Hall of Fame,” said Dr. Carla Lynch, associate dean of RSU’s School of Nursing and Health Professions. “He has made exceptional contributions to the discipline of athletic training both as an educator and practitioner over three decades. His commitment to excellence is outstanding and both his students and his peers applaud his remarkable achievements.”
Coley will be formally inducted into the MAATA 2025 Hall of Fame class of 2025 in a ceremony to be held March 14 in La Vista, Nebraska. Should he be allowed to make an acceptance speech, he said he plans to emphasize the importance of current athletic trainers to educate and mentor the next generation of athletic trainers.
“This Hall of Fame induction is the pinnacle of my career – definitely a great honor, and I’m looking forward to it,” Coley said, “but that hardly means I’ll not be working just as hard at what I do. Our allied health program has seen tremendous growth, to the point that agencies know about it and are contacting us about our students. With this Hall of Fame honor, I feel it’s more important than ever for me to continue to do the best work that I can, produce the best students we can, because it’s not just my reputation I’m upholding, it’s that of the university.”
MAATA’s mission is to enhance the professional development and leadership abilities of its members through engagement, mentoring, and the advancement of the athletic training profession within their district.
Coley graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in physical education. He then attended the United States Sports Academy, where he obtained a Master of Sports Science with an emphasis in sports medicine in 1991.
During his graduate studies, he was the graduate assistant athletic trainer at the University of Miami covering the football program during the 1990 football season.
He received certification as a certified athletic trainer in 1992 and began his career working mostly at the secondary school level. He also spent time working on the professional rodeo circuit and covering tournaments for various sports around northeast Oklahoma. He has served as a football medical observer for the Big 12 covering Oklahoma State University football games.
He has been heavily involved in many aspects of athletic training on a state level in Oklahoma, from being a member of the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers Association Executive Committee to serving as president of the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers’ Association.
He is an inductee in the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.
Learn more about RSU’s Bachelor of Science in allied health sciences.