From Playing to Coaching: Ryan Janssen Comes Full Circle

For Ryan Janssen, Millikin Baseball has been a full circle experience.

After being a part of bringing a championship to Millikin as a player, Janssen has returned to the Big Blue as a hitting coach, bringing a fresh perspective that only a player can provide to the current roster.

Coming back to Millikin simply completed the circle.

“I was recruited to Millikin out of high school,” Janssen says. “I had a relationship with the current coach, Coach Townsend, through summer ball. I actually coached [that team] this summer.”

As soon as he arrived at Millikin, he felt the family environment right away. Janssen played at Lakeland College for two years before transferring. “Ever since I came here, I knew it was a family environment,” Janssen says. “It was just one of those things that fell into place. Coach Townsend continued recruiting me, and we maintained that relationship, and I was able to have a successful career here, individually and team wise.”

That successful career included a CCIW regular season and tournament championship in 2024, with Janssen playing a huge role. “I’m very thankful to be put in a situation to where I was able to contribute to such a successful team right away,” he says. “That’s not the case with everybody, especially coming here out of junior college. I think what set me apart was my two years of experience I had on my belt catching at Lakeland College in a very competitive conference there.”

The fact that Janssen had sustained success in his college career prepares to bring that success right back to the roster that he was a part of. Additionally, he brings an experience of adversity that he can use to help his players get through tough stretches. Take the season when the Big Blue won the CCIW championship in 2024. Because of their tough schedule to begin the year, Janssen’s squad began the season with an 0-2 record.

“When we started, we had a very tough schedule, because we started off the year with some very good teams, which I think was a good thing,” he says. “It was a good test for us early to get some adversity, to fail a little bit, because as we grew throughout the season, we were battle tested. And once conference play started, we opened up pretty dominantly.”

That dominance continued throughout the season as well, as Janssen would help propel his squad to a CCIW championship. Winning the tournament was a surreal experience, especially considering how much work he had put in through the season. “I know it’s cliche, but it was really like a dream,” Janssen says. “It’s one of those moments, like when we won the conference tournament at North Park, and we knew that we would get to continue our season with an NCAA tournament bid. It’s one of those moments when you black out.”

Not only was it a surreal experience to win the tournament, but it was an incredibly connected experience. Janssen still remains in close contact with many of the players from that team to this day. “We had such a big group of seniors,” he says. “We had so many guys that were playing for the same goal, our last hurrah. And the character of those guys, I mean, we’re still best friends to this day. We all really wanted to do it for each other.”

Being in the day-to-day grind is where Janssen is meant to be. After the body of work that he put together during that season, he realized baseball would be much more than just a sport in his life. “I think that really shows in light of how we played, how hard we worked, and the sacrifices that we made in order to put ourselves in the situation to be successful and to be the championship caliber team. And it paid off, because that championship is one of the most unforgettable moments of my life.”

After graduating from Millikin, Janssen returned to his home town, Nokomis, Illinois, to be a PE teacher and to coach baseball and football. He gained valuable coaching experience from his time away from Decatur. “How cool is it that I get to go back to where I grew up?” he says. “I get to be a co-worker to some of my teachers in school, and I get to have that same effect on the kids that they had on me. It was an awesome experience getting to go back to my hometown. I was the Assistant Varsity Football Coach and the Assistant Baseball Coach.”

Although Janssen left after only a year, he is extremely grateful for his time working in his hometown. “I will always call that place home,” he says. “It was a short stint there for a year where I was back teaching and coaching, but that place is always home, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to try to impact that community.”

After returning to Millikin, Janssen finds himself in a very similar position to the one he had in his home town. Although he is more intently focused on baseball, he has also had the opportunity to work as the Assistant Strength Coach as well. These are two jobs that require Janssen to be up before five in the morning and stay up late, but he loves the opportunity to work so hard.

“Leading a team is where I felt most like myself,” he says. “Now, I get to be a part of the behind the scenes of what actually goes on in the daily operations of a college coach in the college athletics grind.”

Working under Head Baseball Coach and Assistant Athletic Director Brandon Townsend has also given Janssen extremely valuable experience that he will be able to use to set himself apart from other coaches in the future, especially at such a young age. “I can’t think of a better person to work under,” he says. “There’s so much more to college athletics than competing in the game itself. Coach Townsend, especially with the amount of experience he has here at Millikin, has his foot in almost every food here, and now I get to learn multiple sides of how collegiate athletics works, not just how to run a baseball program. I’m very thankful to have that relationship with him.”

One of the biggest things that Janssen continues to look forward to is not only how to improve a player on the field, but to also show that player how to make an impact off the field. Treating people with kindness is much more valuable than having a good batting average, and he realizes this. “It’s something that I was called upon to do, sort of my higher purpose,” he says. “I’ve been through the peaks, I’ve been through the valleys. I’ve had times where I’m sitting on the bench and I’ve had emotional distress. I’m not too far removed, so it’s easy for me to relate to these athletes and what they’re going on in their lives, because I lived it two years ago.”

As baseball wraps up its fall season, Janssen will look to focus more on getting to know players on a personal level off the field rather than on it. He can’t wait to get the spring season underway. “Millikin was a huge part of my individual growth, and it helped shape me into who I am today. That was a big part as I matured as a college athlete and as a person in my late teens and early twenties. I’m just ecstatic to be back in the role where I can give back to all the athletes on campus.”

Janssen is taking on a new challenge. However, with his prior experience with the ups and downs of being a player, he is ready to face any challenge being a baseball coach can present.