Football Announces Strength Staff Changes

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Three Army West Point football strength and conditioning changes were announced Tuesday.

Conor Hughes, former two-year assistant football strength and conditioning coach, has been promoted to the head position. He takes over for Brian Hess, who departed for North Carolina last month. Hughes then hired Rusty Whitt and GC Yerry as his assistants.

Hughes has been at Army since 2016, but came to the Academy after spending six seasons at the University at Albany as the Director of Football and Men's Basketball Strength and Conditioning. He was in charge of all physical development for the 2011 and 2012 NEC Championship football teams and the 2013-15 America East Champion men's basketball team.

Prior to Albany, Hughes was the head strength and conditioning coach at Iona College in 2010 and implemented all aspects of a training program with all 21 Division I sports at the Gaels. He went to Iona after a stint at Albany as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in early 2010. He worked with women's basketball, women's soccer, men's soccer and the track and field squads.

Following his 2008 graduation from Springfield College, he was an intern with the football strength and conditioning staff at Georgia Southern, then moved on to become a graduate assistant at Albany from 2008 to 2009.

Hughes earned an Applied Exercise Science degree from Springfield and then recieved his Master's from Albany in Liberal Studies in 2010.
-----
Whitt comes to the Banks of the Hudson after spending three seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach for the Texas Tech football program from 2016-18.

Whitt, a veteran of the United States Army, oversaw a staff of three full-time assistants as well as a graduate assistant. Whitt's staff also worked closely with the Tech athletic training and nutrition programs.

Prior to his arrival in Lubbock, Texas, Whitt spent six seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach for a Louisiana-Lafayette program that was 43-33 overall and won four-straight New Orleans Bowls during his tenure. The Rajin' Cajuns also claimed the Sun Belt Conference title in 2013.

Whitt was hired at Louisiana-Lafayette following a year-long stint as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Rice where he designed and implemented year-round strength, speed, mobility, cardiovascular conditioning and injury rehabilitation programs for football, baseball, swimming as well as track and field.

Before joining the staff at Rice, Whitt served in the United States Army as a Senior Special Forces Communication Sergeant in the 10th Special Forces Group. Whitt was a member of the U.S. Army from Aug. 2003-Jan. 2009 where he was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) V and VI.

Whitt developed and initiated a comprehensive pre-deployment conditioning program for his Special Forces Team prior to and during OIF V and VI. He received a combat infantry badge, two Iraqi campaign medals and an Army commendation medal with valor.

Prior to joining the military, Whitt was the head strength and conditioning coach at Sam Houston State where he served as an instructor in the kinesiology department and assisted in the design of a new weight facility. He started his tenure at Sam Houston State in December 1998.

Whitt began his strength and conditioning career with graduate assistantships at Midwestern State University (Aug. 1995-June 1996) and the University of Texas (June 1996-May 1997). He also performed an internship in the strength and conditioning department at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (May-Sept. 1997).

Whitt earned his bachelor's degree in police science and administration from Abilene Christian University in 1994 and his master's degree in kinesiology from Texas in 1997. He was a four-year letterman and three-year starter in football for Abilene Christian and is currently a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
-----
Yerry joins the Army strength staff after a three-year stint as the Director of Athletic Performance at Stony Brook.

While in that role Yerry oversaw an assistant director and graduate assistant, while also designing and implementing all strength and conditioning programs for the Seawolves football team. He coordinated team and individual nutritional counseling for 118 collegiate football athletes in accordance with a nutrition performance coach. Yerry also worked closely with the athletic training staff to create modified training programs for injured athletes and implemented return to play protocol for post-surgical athletes.

Prior to being promoted to the director, Yerry spent one year as the assistant director (2015) and two years as a graduate assistant at Stony Brook (2013-14)

As a graduate assistant, Yerry focused on all components of strength training and conditioning for softball, men's soccer, as well as men's and women's tennis. During that time, he oversaw baseball's conditioning programming, while also assisting with football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's lacrosse, and volleyball.

After moving into the position of assistant director, Yerry's responsibilities shifted to all aspects of strength training and conditioning for women's basketball, men's lacrosse, baseball and volleyball, while also assisting with football.

He holds his certification as a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), as well as being accredited as a USAW Sport Performance Coach.

Yerry received varsity letters in baseball and basketball from Stony Brook, including a College World Series appearance in 2012. He earned two degrees from the university – a bachelor of science degree in health science in 2013 and a master of arts in liberal studies in 2015.

Army West Point Athletics

Football Announces Strength Staff Changes

Related Videos