Florida Gators will hire Craig Fitzgerald as strength and conditioning coach
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators are set to hire Craig Fitzgerald as the new head of their football strength and conditioning program, Gators Online has learned. Fitzgerald is currently the director of strength and performance for the New York Giants.
Fitzgerald joined the Giants after a two-year stint at the University of Tennessee, where he was 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 against Indiana – and 5-3 in the conference.
Fitzgerald 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 (2014-15-16). In 2016, the Texans advanced to the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
In Fitzgerald’s first year in Houston, the Texans led the NFL with a seven-win improvement and became the sixth team in the NFL since 1978 to post a winning record following a season in which it won two games or less.
Fitzgerald helped head coach Bill O’Brien steady the ship at Penn State after NCAA sanctions limited scholarships. The Nittany Lions finished 8-4 in 2012 and 7-5 in 2013 during a rebuilding effort that was more impressive than the records showed and caught the attention of NFL teams.
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Fitzgerald will take over for former strength and conditioning coordinator, Mark Hocke, who had his role changed with Florida.
“Mark’s an unbelievable leader, person. He’s done an unbelievable job for me personally for six years. I can’t compliment him enough in terms of character and loyalty. One of the things that Mark and I have always talked about is what’s next for him in his career? Ultimately we’re going to try to help Mark with that, and he’s going to be doing different things for our organization, a lot more upstairs, kind of making some of that transition into the coaching element,” Billy Napier said on National Signing Day.
“He’s always had aspirations to do those things, and I think that presents an opportunity for us to bring new leadership from a strength and conditioning standpoint. And I do think that we’re right in the middle of that process. But I can’t compliment Mark enough relative to the work he’s done for us. We wouldn’t be here without Mark Hocke. I’m excited about helping Mark pursue some of the things that he and I have always discussed.”
Craig Fitzgerald career
1997-99 Catholic University – director of strength and conditioning
1999 Arizona State University – graduate assistant strength and conditioning
2000-05 University of Maryland – asst. director of strength and conditioning
2005-09 Harvard University – director of strength and conditioning
2009-11 University of South Carolina – director of strength and conditioning
2012-13 Penn State University – director of strength and conditioning
2014-17 Houston Texans – strength and conditioning
2018-19 University of Tennessee – director of football sports performance
