About
Built in the work nobody sees
Jeff Connors has spent his life in locker rooms, on practice fields, and in the quiet conversations that change the direction of a young man's life.
Biography
A coach first. Always.
Jeff Connors was a Division 1 Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning at Bucknell University, East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for a total of 31 years.
During that time he coached 16 bowl eligible teams. He retired and trained MARSOC Special Ops Marines at Stone Bay for a brief period. His accolades include induction into the Washington/Greene Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame with his father in 2011.
The USA Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016, and was named NSCA Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2017. He also received the Football Lifetime Achievement Award and Distinguished Alumni Award at Salem University, West Virginia.
Jeff is also a Certified Health and Life Coach through the Health Coach Institute, expanding his passion for helping individuals improve their health, leadership, and overall well-being.
The Journey
A coaching life, season by season
1988
First Head Strength and Conditioning Position
Jeff begins his first head strength and conditioning role at Bucknell University.
1991
East Carolina University
Jeff becomes Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning at East Carolina University.
2001
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jeff begins serving as Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning at UNC Chapel Hill..
2011
Return to East Carolina University
Jeff returns to ECU as Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning, serving through 2018.
2016
Hall of Fame Recognition
Inducted into the USA Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame.
2017
National Coach of the Year
Named NSCA National Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year.
2018
Retirement from Collegiate Coaching
Concludes a distinguished collegiate strength and conditioning career after helping prepare athletes on 16 bowl-qualified teams.
Faith-Driven Coaching
Leadership as stewardship
Jeff's approach is anchored in a simple conviction: the people you lead were never yours to use. They were entrusted to you to develop.
That conviction shapes everything — how practice is run, how truth is delivered, how failure is handled, and how a leader carries himself when the season turns hard. It is faith lived out in the details, not announced from a podium.
"You will be remembered for what you demanded and how you loved. Get both right."
Mission Statement