Strength and Conditioning Coach Salary NFL and College

Different teams have different pay scales for their strength coaches. These are some of the highest-paid coaches in NFL:

• Fernando Noriega, Eagles 
• Harold Nash, Cowboys 
• Justin Lovett, Rams 
• Moses Cabrera, Patriots 
• Craig Fitzgerald, Giants 
• Dustin Perry, 49ers 
• Jake Sankal, Washington 
• Jim Arthur, Bears 
• Mike Nicolini, Jets 
• Dan Dalrymple, Broncos 

College strength and conditioning coach salary ranges between $29,000 and $81,000 per season. Glass was the only college football coach to make $1 million.

Rob Glass Alabama – $1 Million

Highest paid strength and conditioning coach Glass is starting his 18th year at Oklahoma State with a new five-year deal with a pay of $1 million yearly.

Glass is one of the most respected strength and conditioning coaches in college sports. He graduated from Oklahoma State in 1984 and returned to his old school in 2005 after spending ten years in Florida. He worked as a graduate assistant for Oklahoma State and became head strength coach from 1986 to 1995.

He has been part of 28 bowl teams since 1987, such as the Sugar Fiesta, Cotton, Alamo, and Holiday at Oklahoma State. Glass was with Florida when they won the national title in 1996 and helped them to three SEC championships.

Mickey Marotti Ohio – $862,238

Ohio State gave Mickey a new three-year deal and raised his yearly base pay to $862,238. Last year, Marotti earned $821,179 in his annual salary plus $174,501 in bonuses for the Buckeye’s participation in the college football playoff.

Marotti has run the strength and conditioning program for Ohio State since Urban Meyer brought him in 2012 and stayed in the position under Ryan Day. He had also been Meyer’s strength coach at Florida before.

Moreover, Glass from Oklahoma State was the only one who earned more than Morotti last year when he reached a $1 million payment, the first for a strength coach.

Mark Hocke Florida – $750,000

Mark Hocke is in his second year as Florida’s Associated Head Coach and Football Strength and Conditioning Director.

Georgia strength and conditioning coach Hocke spent six years at Alabama under Nick Saban, three of them with Napier, and had previously worked at Florida State and Texas A&M.

He was with Napier in Louisiana for four seasons before going to Florida. They won four consecutive Sun Belt West Division titles, the Sun Belt title in 2020, and the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship.

Hocke spent the 2017 season at Texas A&M, where he served as the football strength and conditioning coach under the head coach Kevin Sumlin with the base salary is around $275,000 per season.

Raimond Brathwaite Iowa – $710,000

Braithwaite’s salary for 2022 was $710,000, around twice more than what he was paid in 2021.

Raimond has been with Iowa since 2002, except for a three-year stint at Delaware State as head strength and conditioning coach from 2005 to 2007. He was named interim director in June 2020 and director in March 2021.

Aaron Wellman Indiana – $710,000

Senior Assistant athletic director of New Indiana Aaron Wellman will make around $710,000 per season in the two-year contract that started in 2022.

He has 26 years of experience, including in the Big Ten. Wellman came to Indiana in 2020 after four years as the New York Giants’ strength and conditioning coach.

Wellman began his journey with the Indiana football program. He worked as a graduate assistant with the Hoosiers for two years, starting in 1997, and then he moved on to be an assistant strength and conditioning coach at IU from 1998 to 2001.

Becoming a strength and conditioning coach requires a bachelor’s degree in a related field, experience with personal training, and a CSCS certification.

In addition to completing your education, you can also gain from obtaining your strength and conditioning coach certification. You can select many certifications from reputable programs, such as performance enhancement specialist certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicines.

Similarly, the strength and conditioning coach certification from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association and the ISSA strength and conditioning coach certification from the International Sports Sciences Association.

 Here are the essential skills for a strength and conditioning coach:

• Analytical thinking
• Attention to detail
• Communication
• Integrity
• Interpersonal relation
• Leadership

Strength and conditioning internships

Strength and conditioning internships are unpaid volunteer opportunities for your first professional experience. You can gain knowledge from specialists in the field.

An internship will provide you with practical experience by coaching under successful veteran strength and conditioning coaches and learning how to teach, demonstrate, and correct various experiences.

You can also work with more experienced coaches and acquire new coaching and leadership techniques to apply as your career advances.

Having an internship or volunteer experience can demonstrate to employers your passion and dedication to learning and enhancing your skills as a coach.

Strength and conditioning graduate assistant

Strength and conditioning graduate assistants oversee and maintain the student-athlete weight room or areas at their university.

Some Typical responsibilities are:

• Apply your knowledge of strength and conditioning to create programs that help athletes enhance their performance
• Work with the director of strength and performance to execute their plans for exercise with athletes
• Train with athletes
• Help with the tracking and planning of team exercises
• Assist in developing and applying recovery plans for injured athletes
• Assist with some practical aspects of exercises, like preparing and clearing up equipment

There are various ways to find a job, but the easiest way to get hired is to apply for jobs at college. You can find new opportunities in other sources such as the NCAA job board, jobsinsports.com, and ZipRecruiter, to find the best position.

When you apply, make sure that your resume and cover letter, which should be accurate and well-crafted. This is a professional position and you need application materials that show your professionalism to be eligible.