Ross Pryor joined the Catamount football coaching staff during the spring of 2026, coming to Cullowhee after a year spent at Charleston Southern as a defensive line graduate assistant. Pryor worked alongside current WCU defensive line coach Mike Welch and defensive coordinator Nick Reveiz.
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Before making the move to the collegiate ranks at Charleston Southern, Pryor spent six seasons coaching high school football in Florida, including two – 2023 and 2024 – as the head coach at Wellington High School. Pryor coached Wellington High from 2020-23 as the defensive coordinator, defensive line coach, and special teams coordinator before taking over as the head coach. He additionally coached basketball and girls flag football from 2021-22.
Pryor earned his coaching start at Lake Placid High School in Lake Placid, Florida, where he was the defensive coordinator and strength coach in 2019. He also coached basketball during his prep coaching career.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Pryor attended Kingwood High as a two-sport athlete playing football and basketball. He was an all-area and all-district defensive end and long snapper. He parlayed that into a collegiate offer at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma in 2014, though he was sidelined by injury. He transferred to Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., where he was a three-year starter at defensive end and outside linebacker under legendary head coach Ken Sparks. He served as a team captain in 2018 and was awarded the team’s John T. Higgins Award for character and honor in 2017.
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Pryor graduated from Carson-Newman in December 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing.
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