Brian Phillips Named Director of Sports Performance

Image

UMass Amherst Athletics has hired Brian Phillips, most recently director of strength and conditioning at Elon University, to be the department’s director of sports performance.

Phillips will work closely with the football program in his new role and brings a wealth of expertise gained with the football teams at Army, Elon, Idaho, Nevada and USC.

“People are the heartbeat to all high-performance organizations, and I truly believe that the right people are in place here to achieve the goals we have,” Phillips said. “The championship-level expectations and standards that UMass believes in are congruent to mine, and will provide me a platform to be the best coach I can be. In addition, the opportunity to work at the premier institution in Massachusetts, in my home state, only added to my excitement about this role.”

Phillips joined the university staff after one year at Elon, where he worked intensely with the football program and oversaw the sports performance efforts for all 16 varsity athletic teams. Additionally, he designed weekly educational opportunities for student-athletes regarding nutrition, sleep and lifestyle.

Prior to his tenure at Elon, Phillips served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach and lead of analytics at the United States Military Academy for three seasons. In his role at Army, he designed and implemented speed, plyometric and conditioning for “skill” position competitors and also constructed modified training programs for injured student-athletes. Simultaneously, he charted and organized data on student-athlete performance and wellness in his role as lead of analytics.

Phillips spent January-August 2014 as a member of the University of Nevada athletics staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, which included focused work with the football program and the implementation of a training program specific to men’s basketball.

Phillips trained student-athletes at the University of Idaho from September 2012-January 2014 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He helped implement programs for the football and men’s basketball squads while simultaneously serving as the head strength and conditioning coach for men’s and women’s track and field, women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and men’s cheerleading.

He also has experience with the sports performance staffs at Northeastern (2010-11) and USC (2012).

A native of East Bridgewater, Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Bridgewater State University and a master’s in performance enhancement and injury prevention from California University of Pennsylvania.