Recruiting Area: Lawrence; Western Kansas City, Northeast Oklahoma, St Louis, Eastern Nebraska

Bryan Nardo will begin his eighth season at Emporia State in 2019, serving as the team's Defensive Coordinator while coaching the Linebackers.
 
In 2018, Emporia State finished with another post-season appearance. The Hornets secured their fourth straight winning season for the first time since joining NCAA Division II and capped it off with a Corsicana Bowl Championship to finish 8-4. Nardo mentored Sophomore Linebacker Jace McDown who led the MIAA with 127 total tackles, 79 solo tackles, and five forced fumbles. He was third in the nation in forced fumbles, fourth in total tackles and eighth in solo tackles. He was also named Division II Football’s National Defensive Player of the Week after Emporia State defeated MIAA Champion Fort Hays State. Defensively, the Hornets forced over 20 takeaways for the sixth time in the last seven years helping 5 players earn All-MIAA honors, Parker Bass (2^nd Team), McDown (2^nd Team), Marek Thompson (Honorable Mention), Gary Woods II (Honorable Mention), and Tre’Vaun Ammons (Honorable Mention). The success from the 2018 Season helped lead to Coach Nardo’s selection for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
 
In 2017, the Hornets finished the season 6-5 and secured their third straight winning season for the first time since joining NCAA Division II. The senior class went out with a four year record of 32-17 with two NCAA Playoff berths including a trip to the Regional Championship game in 2015. Coach Nardo had two players finish in the top 6 in the MIAA in tackles for loss, Tre'Vaun Ammons and Gabe Cleveland. Cleveland had 112 tackles on the season with 67 of them solo and three interceptions. He was fifth in the nation in solo tackles this season and eighth in total tackles per game, ranking second in the MIAA in both categories.  The 2017 Hornets' defense had 4 players earn All-MIAA honors, Cleveland (First-Team), Ammons (Second-Team), Gary Woods II (Honorable Mention), and A.J. West (Honorable Mention).

The Hornets finished the 2016 season with an 11-2 overall record, going 10-1 in MIAA games.  The defense was ranked in the top 3 in the MIAA in defensive scoring average.  Nardo's linebacker unit had 2 players earn All-MIAA honors, Kole Schankie (Second-Team) and Josh Monteagudo (Third-Team).  The Hornets' defense continued to haunt opposing QB's in 2016, racking up 39 total sacks.
 
In 2015, Nardo's defense helped lead the team to an 11-3 record and NCAA Division II playoff berth. He guided a defense that was second in the MIAA in sacks with 40 and third in the league in interceptions with 17. Under Nardo's defense, the linebacker unit saw one of the best seasons ever at Emporia State as Jason Tetuan, Kole Schankie, and Josh Monteagudo all had over 100 tackles. An active season for the Hornet defense, in 2015 they ranked top ten in the country with 32 takeaways, 103 tackles for loss, and 40 sacks. Their sack total was the second most in one season since the program began in 1893.
 
Since joining the program in 2012, Nardo has worked with a Hornet Defense that has forced 186 Takeaways and helped Emporia State to 6 winning seasons over those 7 years (59-25). He has mentored 17 All-MIAA Linebackers, with 6 breaking the 100 tackle mark and 1 leading the Nation in Interceptions (7) by a Linebacker. The Hornet Defense has produced 42 All-MIAA performers since 2012. In his first season with the program, he coached Emporia State's first All-American linebacker since 1999, Ben Carlson.
 
Before coming to Emporia, Nardo spent a season at Missouri S&T (Formerly Missouri-Rolla). Nardo joined the Missouri S&T football program for the 2011 season as the Linebackers Coach / Special Teams Coordinator. He was named the Great Lakes Football Conference Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the Miners improve from a 3-8 record in 2010 to 6-5 in 2011. He worked with a defensive unit that ranked 14th nationally in sacks and was 30th in the nation in rushing defense. He coached two first team All-Conference linebackers, one of whom became the first Miner with 100+ tackles in a season since 2006 and only the fourth player to do it in 15 years.
 
S&T led the GLFC in net punting, punt return yardage defense, and kickoff return yardage. The Miners were ranked 20th in NCAA Division II in yards per punt return at 5.7 yards per return.
 
Nardo was a graduate assistant at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio from 2008-2010. While at Ohio, he coached the nickel backs and outside linebackers. During his last two seasons with the Bobcats, Nardo assisted a defensive unit at Ohio that earned bowl berths, making the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl in 2009 after winning the Mid-American Conference’s Eastern Division title and the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in 2010. Ohio’s defensive unit was one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers, ranking first in NCAA Division I by gaining 37 turnovers in 2009 and finishing 20th nationally in interceptions a year later with 17. The Bobcats defeated rival Miami Ohio five straight years during Nardo’s time in Athens. Nardo also served as a Student Coach at Ohio from 2004-08, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2008.
 
A native of Shadyside, Ohio, he graduated from St. John Central HS and is the son of Perry and Jayme Nardo. Coaching football runs deep in the Nardo Family as his father Perry and two brothers, Matt & Luke are all members of the coaching profession.

Bryan is married to the former Emma Gilmore, a 2013 Emporia State Alum, and the couple welcomed their first son, Dominick Paul, in 2019.