David Riede has been a mainstay on the Villanova coaching staff and the 2025 season will be his 19th with the program. He has held several roles during his time with the Wildcats and currently serves as the Recruiting Coordinator in addition to being in his first year working with the team’s safeties. Riede previously coached the cornerbacks and most recently worked with the linebackers for the past six seasons. Â
Villanova has had a great deal of success with its recruiting efforts in recent seasons by combining a national outlook with the ability to keep top talent close to home for their collegiate careers. Those efforts are evident with 13 incoming signees for the Class of 2029 who hail from five states on the Eastern seaboard – Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Over the last two years, the Wildcats have brought in players from nine different states and the District of Columbia. Â
On the playing field, Riede will be entering his first season working with a young and talented group of Villanova safeties. He was the Wildcats linebackers coach from 2020-25 and helped the group consistently be one of the team’s top performing units. Last year was a particular notable one for the Wildcats linebackers as Brendan Bell and Shane Hartzell were each named to the CAA Football First Team Defense. It was the first time in 14 years that the Wildcats had two linebackers garner first team all-league recognition in the same year. Bell went on to be a third team All-American from Stats Perform, while Hartzell is on the preseason watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award entering the 2025 campaign. The pair combined for 247 tackles last season and each had more than 120 stops on the year.Â
Riede helped Forrest Rhyne develop into one of the top players in the nation during the 2021 season which saw him be named the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Year as well as The Maxwell Football Club co-winner of the Regional Player of the Year Award. Rhyne’s 154 total tackles in 2021 were the most among all FBS and FCS players and he averaged 11.8 tackles per contest. He was a three-time first team All-CAA selection and went on to play in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts before returning to Villanova and joining Riede on staff. Â
During the nine seasons that Riede was in charge of player personnel for the Wildcats he served as the team’s liaison to the Academic Support and Compliance offices while assisting heavily in all aspects of the program’s recruiting efforts. Riede came to Villanova from Allegheny College where he was an assistant from 2005-07. During his stay at Allegheny, Riede was responsible for coaching the wide receivers and overseeing all aspects of video coordination. Â
Riede is a 2003 graduate of Baldwin Wallace College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice. During his playing days at Baldwin Wallace, he was a two-year letterwinner in football and a three-year letterwinner in baseball. Riede earned a Master’s in Sport and Recreational Management from Kent State University in 2005. Â
Riede and his wife Lindsey reside in Wilmington, Del., with their seven-year old son Jack, five-year old son Dan and two-year old daughter, Madelyn.Â
