2023-12-30 15:03:32
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida head coach Billy Napier announced Wednesday the addition of Craig Fitzgerald to the staff as the Gators’ new director of football performance.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Craig and his family — his wife, Mary, and sons, Mac, Joe and Luke, to Gainesville and to the UF community,” Napier said. “We’re very excited to add Coach Fitz to our team. He brings a significant level of experience in both college and the NFL. He will help each player on our team reach their potential. His reputation precedes itself and we are excited regarding the leadership he will bring and the impact he will have on our entire organization.”
“I’m extremely excited to join coach Napier and his staff, and to be part of Gator Nation,” Fitzgerald said. “I look forward to being part of such a storied program and can’t wait to get to work.”
A veteran of more than 25 years of experience at the collegiate and professional levels, Fitzgerald has led strength and performance departments at several SEC institutions, and two NFL teams. His tenure in the NFL stretches across eight years of combined experience. He was also instrumental in revamping strength and conditioning regimens at Penn State, South Carolina and Tennessee to make players bigger, faster, stronger and more explosive.
Fitzgerald joins the Gators following spending four seasons with the New York Giants. During his first year in New York, Fitzgerald’s thorough and consistent analysis and customized training regiments led to the largest reduction of football injuries from the previous season in the NFL in 2020. His approach to prioritize injury prevention helped the Giants finish second in NFC East that season.
Fitzgerald joined the Giants following a two-year stint at the University of Tennessee, where he served as the director of football sports performance. In 2019, the Volunteers improved from 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the Southeastern Conference to 8-5 – including a Gator Bowl victory once morest Indiana – and 5-3 in the conference.
In his first season with the program in 2018, Fitzgerald’s strength program helped the Vols to two upset victories over ranked opponents Auburn and Kentucky. Prior to his tenure in Knoxville, Fitzgerald was the head strength and conditioning coach of the Houston Texans from 2014-17. He helped Houston win back-to-back AFC South division championships in 2015 and 2016, while putting together three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history (2014-16).
In Fitzgerald’s first year in Houston, the Texans led the NFL with a seven-win improvement and became the sixth NFL team since 1978 to post a winning record following a season in which it won two games or less.
Prior to Houston, Fitzgerald was the leading football strength and conditioning coach at Penn State (2012-13). He revamped Penn State’s training and workout facilities and developed the popular “Iron Lion” T-shirt, which directed proceeds from sales of the shirt to PSU’s chapter of Uplifting Athletes, a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness for rare diseases.
His term at Penn State followed three successful seasons (2009-11) working with Gators legend Steve Spurrier at the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks won a school-record 11 games and finished in the Associated Press Top 10 for the first time in school history in his final season.
Fitzgerald was the director of strength and conditioning at Harvard from 2005-09, overseeing 41 varsity sports, including the football team that won Ivy League championships in 2007 and 2008. From 2000-05, he served as an assistant director of strength and conditioning at the University of Maryland, his alma mater. Fitzgerald was the first director of strength and conditioning at Catholic University from 1997-99, when he was also was the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator.
Fitzgerald holds the highest honor awarded in his profession, the certification of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He is also certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
He was a three-year letterwinner and starting tight end for the Terrapins from 1994-96 following beginning his career as a walk-on.
Fitzgerald and his wife, Mary, have three sons: Mac, Joe and Luke.
Coaching Experience
2020-23: New York Giants (Director of Strength and Performance)
2018-19: University of Tennessee (Director of Football Sports Performance)
2014-17: Houston Texans (Strength and Conditioning)
2012-13: Penn State University (Director of Strength and Conditioning)
2009-11: University of South Carolina (Director of Strength and Conditioning)
2005-09: Harvard University (Director of Strength and Conditioning)
2000-05: University of Maryland (Asst. Director of Strength and Conditioning)
1999: Arizona State University (Graduate Assistant Strength/Conditioning)
1997-99: Catholic University (Director of Strength and Conditioning)
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