As previously reported, the Indiana football program has pulled an alum from the NFL to be their next strength coach. Coming to the Hoosiers from the New York Giants, Aaron Wellman’s official title at IU will be senior assistant athletic director for football performance.
Wellman replaces another Indiana alum. David Ballou left the football program to take the same job at Alabama.
The full release on Wellman from Indiana follows.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head football coach Tom Allen welcomed on Monday Aaron Wellman as senior assistant athletic director for football performance. Wellman comes to Bloomington after four years as the New York Giants strength and conditioning coach.
Wellman has led strength and conditioning programs for 15 years with stints at the University of Michigan (2011-14), San Diego State University (2009-10) and Ball State University (2004-08) in addition to the Giants (2016-19).
“We strive to provide our student-athletes with the best in all aspects of our program and Aaron Wellman’s hire does just that,” Allen said. “Bringing in his elite expertise is a game changer. Aaron has worked at the highest levels in both college and professional football. We are excited for his arrival and believe he will take our strength and conditioning to another level.”
Wellman owns 23 years of experience, including 11 in the Big Ten. He started his career as a graduate assistant with the Hoosiers (1997-98) before being elevated to assistant strength and conditioning coach (1998-2001).
“It’s exciting to be back at a University we love, and to work with a coaching staff and team we believe in,” Wellman said. “We’re anxious to get started.”
Wellman was responsible for the yearly programming of strength, speed and position-specific conditioning for the Giants. He implemented individualized performance programs to maximize speed, strength and power while mitigating the risk of injury.
In addition to collaborating with the medical staff on injury risk assessments and return-to-play protocols, Wellman developed and carried out movement screening and anthropometric assessments to determine lean muscle mass carrying capacity of the athlete skeleton.
After his initial stint in Bloomington, Wellman moved onto East Lansing where he served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Michigan State University (2001-03). He also worked as an assistant for one year at the University of Notre Dame (2015).
A native of Ligonier, Ind., Wellman was a four-year member of the Manchester (Ind.) University football team.
Wellman is a registered master strength and conditioning coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA), a certified strength and conditioning specialist and personal trainer by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and a specialist in performance nutrition by the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA).
He earned his degree in exercise science in 1996. Wellman added master’s degrees from IU in applied sport science (1998) and nutrition science (2009), and his PhD (2018) from Bond University in Queensland, Australia.
Aaron and his wife, Shellie, have one son, Grant, and one daughter, Grace.
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