Russell T. Whitt (born July 6, 1971) is the head

strength and conditioning coach A strength and conditioning coach (also known as an S&C coach) is a physical performance professional who uses exercise prescription to improve the performance of competitive athletes or athletic teams. This is achieved through the combination of ...

for the

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Univer ...

football team in

Troy, AL Troy is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Alabama, United States. It was formally incorporated on February 4, 1843. Between 1763 and 1783, the area where Troy sits was part of the colony of British West Florida.The Economy of Brit ...

. He previously served as an assistant S&C coach with the

Army Black Knights The Army Black Knights are the athletic teams that represent the United States Military Academy, located in West Point, New York. In sports contexts, since 2015, the teams are commonly referred to as Army. The Black Knights compete at the Nation ...

football team at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in West Point, NY in 2019 and as the head S&C coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team in

Lubbock, TX Lubbock ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of government of Lubbock County, Texas, Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also ...

from 2016 to 2018 and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team in

Lafayette, LA Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

from 2010 to 2016.

Playing career

Whitt played safety and linebacker for

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

in Abilene, Texas, from 1990 to 1994. He graduated in 1994, earning a bachelors of science degree in police science and administration.

Coaching career

Midwestern State Mustangs

From August 1995–96, Whitt began his career as a graduate assistant football coach and strength and conditioning coach at

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

, where he developed strength programs for football, men's soccer, volleyball, and men's and women's basketball. He introduced a comprehensive speed, flexibility, and agility development program for football and soccer, and tested his skills as a linebackers, and defensive ends coach.

Texas Longhorns

Whitt was a graduate assistant in the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Department of Strength and Conditioning for varsity football, baseball and men's basketball from June 1997 – May 1997, where the Longhorns were inaugural Big XXII Champions (Football 1996), and played in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

in 1997. Whitt earned his Masters of Education in Kinesiology while at Texas in 1997.

The US Olympic Training Center

Whitt coordinated speed and agility development for the 1997 Team USA men's and women's volleyball, and assisted in program development for all sports, including USA basketball, and wrestling.

The College of William and Mary Tribe

Whitt was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for

The College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

football team for the 1997 season as well as being designated as the head strength coach for Olympic Sports.

University of Louisville Cardinals

Whitt was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

football team for the 1998 season, as well as the speed and agility coordinator for the freshmen football athletes.

Sam Houston State Bearkats

In the five years Whitt spent with the

Sam Houston State Bearkats The Sam Houston State Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white and their sports teams' nickname is the Bearkats. Sam Hou ...

(1998−2003), he was the head strength and conditioning coach for eleven Division I varsity sports. He also served as an instructor in the school's kinesiology department as well as assisted in the design of a new weight facility.

Rice Owls

Three months after completing a six-year stint in the Army, Whitt returned to coaching as the assistant coordinator of strength and conditioning at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. While only there for the 2009 season, he developed training and recovery programs for the Owls' football, baseball, swimming, and track & field teams.

Louisiana−Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

In October 2010, Coach Whitt was hired as the strength and conditioning coach to oversee 12 NCAA sports at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. Whitt developed a plan for a $750,000 equipment and infrastructure overhaul for ULL athletics and provided the design for a 12,250 square-foot performance center which was completed in September 2015.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

In January 2016, Whitt was hired as the new head strength and conditioning coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders by head football coach Kliff Kingsbury At Tech, Whitt introduced a program called "4th Quarter Combatives," which applied mixed martial arts themed conditioning to football training. Whitt also introduced "velocity based training" using technology to measure bar speed for Olympic lifts. While at Texas Tech, Whitt oversaw three full-time assistants as well as a graduate assistant. He was let go along with the rest of the Texas Tech staff following the 2018 season when new coach Matt Wells took over.

Army Black Knights

On February 19, 2019, the

Athletic Department announced the hire of Whitt as an assistant football strength and conditioning coach under head football coach

Jeff Monken Jeffrey Michael Monken (born April 15, 1967) is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at the United States Military Academy, a position he has held since the 2014 season. Monken previously served as the head football ...

and head football strength and conditioning coach Conor Hughes. He spent one season with the Black Knights before moving on to take another head S&C position.

Troy Trojans

On February 8, 2020,

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

head football coach Chip Lindsey announced the hire of Whitt as the head football strength and conditioning coach.

Military career

From 2003 to 2009, Whitt was a communication sergeant in the 10th Special Forces Group of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He was awarded the combat infantryman's badge (2007), two Iraqi campaign medals, and the Army commendation medal with valor. Whitt left his job at Sam Houston State to join the Army, but continued his work in strength and conditioning to enhance training, most notably developing and initiating a comprehensive pre-deployment conditioning program for his Special Forces team prior to their two deployments. In 2016, Whitt was named as a finalist for the Armed Forces Merit Bowl Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitt, Rusty 1971 births Living people American strength and conditioning coaches Sam Houston Bearkats football coaches Texas Longhorns coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches University of Texas alumni American football people from Texas Players of American football from Texas People from Azle, Texas