Strength Staff
September 06, 2006 04:43 PM | General
Mike Joseph
Director of Strength and Conditioning
Mike Joseph is in his first year as the director of strength and conditioning at West Virginia University.
Joseph, who came to WVU in January from Notre Dame, will administer, coordinate, develop, implement and teach strength and conditioning programs for all Mountaineer student athletes with a major emphasis on the football program.
He served for five years as the assistant strength coach at Notre Dame (2003-08), working with football and was responsible for the strength and conditioning programs for baseball, volleyball, and softball.
At Notre Dame, he worked with the head strength coach with football, assisted with workouts, testing, conditioning, speed and agility training and in-season and offseason training schedules on a daily basis. He was responsible for developing and training the quarterbacks, tight ends, linebackers, fullbacks and injured players. He also had the same responsibilities with the sports of baseball, volleyball and softball. Also part of his duties included the supervision and maintenance of the facility and equipment and scheduling all student-athletes for the school’s 27 sports.
Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he spent two years as an assistant strength coach at Eastern Michigan (2001-03), served as a graduate assistant at WVU for two years (1999-2001), worked at Healthworks Fitness and Rehabilitation in Morgantown during the 2001 summer and was the strength and conditioning coach at Fairmont State (Aug. 1998 – May 1999).
Joseph also was a camp instructor at the Mountain State Speed and Strength Camp hosted by WVU from May 2000 until April 2001. He has served as a guest speaker and instructor at many camps and clinics, has been a classroom instructor and was the state director for the National Association of Speed and Explosion.
He coached 10 Strength & Conditioning All-Americans, 10 football players who earned All-America honors and more than 100 athletes who were either drafted or signed free agent contracts in the NFL.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in biology and received his master’s degree from West Virginia in physical education with an emphasis in sport movement and development.
While at Fairmont State, Joseph was a four-year letterman and three-year captain on the football team from 1994-97. He was a three-time first-team all-WVIAC selection and was named the WVIAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1996. He was a 1997 regional All-American, a Burger King Scholar Athlete and a WVIAC Scholar Athlete. He was selected the vice president of the student-athlete advisory committee and to the Fairmont State Student Council.
He is certified by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) and the National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA).
Shawn Gaunt
Director of Speed/Skill Development
Shawn Gaunt is in his first year on the strength and conditioning staff at West Virginia University, serving as the director of speed/skill development. He came to Morgantown this past spring after a three-year stint as the speed/development coordinator at Notre Dame.
Gaunt designed and implemented a speed development program for football and other varsity teams, as well as assisted with the strength training for football. He was responsible for strength training program for track and field and organized and operated summer speed and agility camp.
Prior to that, he was the head strength and conditioning coach at HS2 Athletic Performance at Mandeville, La., from Jan. 2003 to April 2004. Before attending graduate school at Tennessee, he was the assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at HS2 Athletic Peformance.
Gaunt graduated from Southeastern Louisiana with bachelor’s degree in exercise science/health promotion in 1999. He earned master’s degree in biomechanics/sports medicine from Tennessee in 2003, and holds certifications as a certified strength & conditioning specialist and strength and conditioning coach certified.
Andy Kettler
Associate Director, Basketball
Andy Kettler is the new associate director of strength and conditioning for basketball.
Kettler, a native of Cincinnati, spent the past two years as the head strength and conditioning coach at Winthrop. While there, he was in charge of all aspects of the Eagles’ strength and conditioning program.
Prior to his time at Winthrop, Kettler was the head strength and conditioning coach of the Kansas City Royals for two seasons. With the Royals, he was in charge of the entire strength and conditioning staff, including the supervision of two assistants and six interns. Kettler designed and implemented programs for strength, conditioning, flexibility and nutrition.
Kettler is a 2001 graduate of Ashland University with a bachelor’s degree in sports industries/recreation. Following college, he served as an intern at the University of Toledo before joining the Cleveland Indians organization as strength coach for one of Cleveland’s minor league teams, the Lake County Captains. After a one-year stint with the Indians organization, Kettler served as minor league strength and conditioning coordinator for the San Diego Padres’ six minor league teams.
Kettler is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). He and his wife, Kimbraly, have been married for three years.
Corey Twine
Assistant Coordinator
Corey Twine is in his first year on the strength and conditioning staff at WVU as the assistant coordinator for strength and conditioning. He came to Morgantown this spring after serving as an astronaut strength and conditioning coach at Wyle Laboratories, Inc. (NASA) at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas since August 2002.
At Wyle Laboratories, Twine scheduled and conducted physical readiness assessments for all active astronauts, formulated and implemented programs and consulted with engineers and biomedical staff on exercise hardware issues.
Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Michigan State from September 2000 – August 2002. He assisted in implementing strength and conditioning programs from men’s basketball and football and developed individualized weight control programs for at-large athletes. He constructed and implemented programs for women’s tennis and was the liaison between the training staff and the strength staff for purpose of rehabilitating athletes.
From March 2000 to Sept. 2000, he was the head strength and conditioning coach for Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor league organization in Charleston, S.C. He designed and scheduled strength and conditioning program for entire team and monitored rehab programs that were constructed by training staff. He also located facilities and coordinated road program.
Twine was a strength and conditioning intern at Penn State from Sept. 1999 – Dec. 1999 and worked camps with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Redskins and Notre Dame.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science at Norfolk State in Norfolk, Va., in 2000, and a master’s degree in kinesiology from Michigan State in 2002.
Jason Pompili
Assistant Coordinator
Jason Pompili was recently named Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning after serving as assistant strength and conditioning coach since 2004. His responsibilities include working with volleyball, crew, cheerleading, and women's track. He also has experience working with football, men's basketball, swimming and diving, tennis and baseball.
He is also coordinator of the strength and conditioning intern development program.
Pompili joined the Mountaineer strength program in 2002 as an intern and was promoted to graduate assistant in August, 2003.
He is also a personal trainer.
Pompili is a Morgantown native and a graduate of University High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from WVU in 2002, and his master’s degree in athletic coaching education from WVU in 2004.
He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and is certified in CPR, AED, NASE, and first aid.
Beth Byron
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
Paul Chandler
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
Paul Chandler is in his first year on the athletic staff at WVU as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He came to Morgantown after a three-year stint at Florida as the strength and conditioning assistant coach for two years and as an intern there the year before.
While at Florida, Chandler assisted in the design, organization and execution of strength and conditioning programs for football, the throwers for the women’s track team and men’s and women’s swimming. He managed and organized student-athletes data, organized and administered weight room scheduling, purchasing and maintenance and assisted in the planning of the strength and conditioning all sports clinics and camps. He also assisted in the mentoring of strength and conditioning interns.
He was a graduate assistant football and strength coach (January 2005 – July 2006). He assisted with defensive line and led strength and conditioning workouts and pool workouts.
Chandler earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Harding University, 2003, and his master’s degree in education with emphasis on kinesiology in 2005, also from Harding.
Jerry Handley
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
Jerry Handley is in his second season working with the nationally ranked women’s soccer and wrestling teams. He joined West Virginia University’s strength and conditioning staff as a graduate assistant in January, 2005, following a one-year internship and has since been promoted to assistant strength and conditioning coach.
While at WVU, Handley has worked with all sports in various capacities. His training programs have helped the Mountaineers win conference championships in gymnastics, women’s soccer, and swimming and diving. Handley has also written training programs once used by men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and women’s tennis, although not directly overseeing these sports' strength and conditioning programs.
Under Handley’s direction, two Mountaineer women’s soccer players have earned National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) All-America honors.
Handley has directly trained six Strength and Conditioning All-Americans and athletes that have advanced to the Olympics, the NBA, Major League Baseball and the Women’s Professional Soccer League.
He graduated from the WVU School of Medicine in August, 2006, with a M.S. in exercise physiology, and earned a M.S. in athletic coaching education in May, 2007. Handley is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and holds first aid, CPR, NASE and AED certifications.
During the past several years, he has competed in mixed martial arts, kickboxing, submission grappling, and amateur boxing events. Handley’s most recent mixed martial arts fights have been in the professional ranks in Atlantic City, N.J.
Handley resides in Morgantown.
Nettie Freshour
Consulting Dietitian
Nettie Puglisi Freshour currently serves as consulting dietitian for the WVU athletic department. Freshour earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s of science at West Virginia University in Human Nutrition and Foods.
Apart from serving as a member of the athletic department staff, Freshour works as a Dietitian/Program Coordinator for WVU’s Dining Services where she works not only with the student body to adapt healthier lifestyles, but also with the staff of Dining Services.
WVU’s Dining Services Wellness Program, headed by Freshour, was awarded a Gold Well Workplace by WELCOA (Well Councils of America) in the fall of 2006. Freshour is also an adjunct professor in the Nutrition department where she teaches an Introduction to Nutrition class as well as an Introduction to Nutrition, Physical Activity and Health class that she developed.
She is a member of the American and West Virginia Dietetic Associations, SCAN (Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutritionists), and NACUFS (National Association College, and University Food Services) in which she served as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Nutrition Chair. Nettie is also a member of the West Virginia University President’s Student Wellness Taskforce, and the Student Recreational Center’s “Ask the Expert”.
Freshour, a Wheeling, W.Va., native, resides in Morgantown with her husband Gary.
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