First-year Director of Football Sports Performance Bill Hughan joins Vanderbilt with a wealth of strength, conditioning and nutrition experience.
In 2013, Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason and Hughan worked together at Stanford, with Mason serving as associate head coach/defensive coordinator and Hughan as a sports performance coach for the Cardinal football squad.
A native of Oxford, Conn., Hughan helped mold the 2013 Pac-12 champs into one of the nation’s most physical teams. Stanford finished the season with an 11-3 record and second straight Rose Bowl appearance.
Prior to joining the Cardinal, Hughan directed the strength and conditioning program of a National Football League squad, and assisted conditioning efforts at two other league teams.
In 2011, Hughan was named as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach of the New York Jets. He served with the Jets franchise through the 2012-13 regular seasons.
Hughan accepted the Jets position after serving a three-year tenure as assistant strength coach with the Atlanta Falcons (2008-10) and four-year stint as assistant strength coach with the Oakland Raiders (2004-07).
Before nearly a decade of work in the NFL, Hughan worked three years as Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Missouri. During his time in Columbia, Hughan worked with the Tiger football team and more than a dozen other varsity sports. He was promoted to interim director of the Missouri department before leaving for the position in Oakland.
He served as a graduate assistant in the strength and conditioning department at Columbia (1999-2000) after working one season with the Kansas City Royals’ Triple-A baseball team, Omaha Golden Spikes.
Hughan’s first job was as a strength and conditioning intern at Yale (1997-98). He earned his undergraduate degree in exercise science from Springfield College (Mass.) in 1998 and later a master’s degree in applied physiology from Columbia University in New York City.
Hughan’s Strength and Conditioning Career
2014 – Vanderbilt – Director of Football Sports Performance
2014 – Vanderbilt – Director of Football Sports Performance
2013 – Stanford – Sports Performance Coach
2011-13 – New York Jets (NFL) – Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
2008-10 – Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach
2004-07 – Oakland Raiders (NFL) – Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach
2001-03 – Missouri – Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning
1999-2000 – Columbia – Graduate Assistant (Strength & Conditioning)
1999 – Kansas City Royals (AAA affiliate) – Strength & Conditioning Coach
1997-98 – Yale – Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning (intern)