About me
I earned my undergraduate degree at Purdue University in Applied Exercise and Health. While at Purdue, I interned for two years with the football performance and Olympics sports staff. During my year with the Olympics sports staff, I worked with several teams, including Track and Field, Women’s Soccer, Wrestling, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Men’s Swimming, and Cheer.
Upon graduating, I started my career at Springfield College, where I completed my master’s degree in Strength and Conditioning. During my time, I was the head strength coach for Men’s Ice Hockey, Men’s Volleyball, Women’s Gymnastics, Dive, and co-head coach for Football. During my last year, I taught myself how to use excel to create multiple dashboards and databases to help our department. Springfield College presented me with lots of opportunities, including an internship with Clemson University and the role of a temporary assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Notre Dame. These learning opportunities allowed me to progress my professional abilities by challenging my communication, technology, and programming skills. Following my graduation from Springfield, I was hired as an Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Purdue University. In this role, I oversaw the design and implementation of sports performance programs for both Men’s and Women’s Swim and Tennis teams. I was also a co-coordinator for our internship curriculum.
Currently, I am an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports at the University of Notre Dame. In my role, I oversee the programming and training for both baseball and men’s lacrosse teams.
Mission Statement
My mission is to develop champions of life and sport through daily reinforcement of loving tough, ownership, and commitment to others.
I provide athletes the knowledge, expertise, and tools that they will need to turn their competitive careers into ones that will challenge them well beyond the weight room. After four years and many accomplished goals, my athletes will be able to continue their lifestyle without my help and can share their fitness knowledge to help others.
My “Why”
Would you believe me if I told you that these two photos are just 6 months apart? On the left, I was 15-years old and weighing in at 220 lbs. On the right, I weighed in at 165 lbs. right before earning second at our rowing state championships. This incredible journey was due in part to the man standing next to me, Dave Brummert. He taught me how to train purposefully and how to live purposefully by being intentional in my everyday actions. My goal in this field is to pay it forward and help others become champions in sport and champions in life.
In each of us, there is untapped potential that is waiting to be released into the world and sometimes we need someone else to see it before we can see it ourselves. Marianne Williamson said it perfectly in her poem “Our Deepest Fear”,
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.”
Why do I coach the way I do?
I coach the way that I do, which is through loving tough, because of who I surround myself with. The graduate assistant team that I worked with at Springfield College had to overcome something that no other team before us had, a pandemic. Every day we were faced with the challenge of training our student-athletes in a way that brought them closer to their goal, all while giving them a space to feel “normal.” We worked extremely hard to make this happen, and it brought us together as a family.
Everyone in our office loved their athletes and cared deeply about what we were doing. When you surround yourself in an environment like that, anything is possible. What we were able to accomplish was extraordinary, and it was because we were all there to support each other. Through this experience and this team, my athletes will feel coached by someone who cares, is adaptable, and is committed to getting at least one percent better each day.