IU Health Morgan and Greenwood Sleep Lab manager Ryan Thatcher is a lifelong IU fan

Ryan Thatcher, Morgan and Greenwood Sleep Labs manager, has felt immense excitement watching IU Football’s success this season.

Growing up in Martinsville, he was always a die-hard Hoosier fan and knew early on he wanted to go to IU for college.

While pursuing a degree in respiratory therapy, he was also an IU Football manager for the 1997, 1998 and 1999 seasons.

Thatcher has now been with IU Health for nearly 24 years, working as a respiratory therapist and sleep technologist before becoming a sleep lab supervisor in 2020. In this role, he works closely with both day and night shifts, ensuring his teams are set up for success.

“I'm fortunate to have two amazing teams, so I enjoy any time I get to interact with them and help make things easier,” says Thatcher.

His drive to support his team and assist others is reflective of his time as an IU Football manager.

Back then, Thatcher assisted and supported Marty Clark, the special teams coordinator and a defensive coach. His primary responsibility was ensuring the coaches and players had everything they needed during practice and games.

Clark, however, was more than a boss to him, so losing him a few years ago was especially difficult.

“It's been very special knowing what this would have meant to Marty,” says Thatcher with tears in his eyes.

To honor him, Thatcher brought several of Clark’s belongings with him to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Clark’s wife encouraged Thatcher to “hold on to him through this playoff run,” and gave him a hat, jacket and bowl ring of Clark’s.

“I also passed on some of Marty’s things to other former players and managers so he could be part of the Peach Bowl and now the national title game. That's been pretty special,” says Thatcher.

He has loved being able to take his family to games over the years, and this season has brought him lots of joy and hope for the future of IU Football.

“My wife and parents are both IU alumni too, so knowing they've been with me through the lows and now the highs, it's been fun to share these moments with them,” says Thatcher. “Seeing all the smiling fans and hearing Hoo Hoo Hoo cheers ringing through Pasadena is something I never thought I would hear.”