Legendary strength and conditioning coach Dr. Mike Gentry has joined the Wasps.
Gentry retired in 2015 after serving as a key member of Frank Beamer’s football staff at Virginia Tech for 29 seasons.
“This is a game-changer for all our student-athletes,”said E&H Director of Athletics Anne Crutchfield. “Mike is one of the best in the business, and his expertise and background and is unmatched at any level of play.”
While at VT, Gentry oversaw the strength & conditioning of all 22 varsity sports programs, in addition to supervising Tech’s sports nutrition and sport psychology programs.
“I see this an opportunity in a lot of different ways, including the move from Division III to Division II and the dedication that I have seen from the staff at the college,” said Gentry. “I wasn’t looking for a job, but when I got a call from Anne Crutchfield it felt like it was meant to be.”
Gentry was inducted into the USA Strength & Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame in 2010. American Football Monthly also named him its Samson Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year in March 2005.
Emory & Henry head football coach Curt Newsome worked with Gentry while serving as an offensive line coach at Virginia Tech in the 2000’s.
“Mike Gentry is as good of strength coach as there is in the country,” said Newsome. “As we move forward towards the transition to Division II, we just took a huge step forward in building a successful future.”
“Curt Newsome coached my son at Virginia Tech, and I know what kind of man he is, and when I visited the College, I could just feel the love and passion that so many have for this place, and I’m excited to join this family,” added Gentry.
In May 2003, Gentry was honored by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches as one of 36 coaches in the country to receive the association’s highest honor when he was named a Master Strength & Conditioning Coach.
Before he arrived at Virginia Tech, Gentry served as a strength & conditioning coach at the University of North Carolina and East Carolina University. He earned his undergraduate degree from Western Carolina University in 1979 before receiving his master’s degree from UNC in 1981. In 1999, he earned his doctorate from Virginia Tech.
In addition to Gentry, the college hired alumnus Jared Carter as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. A 2017 graduate, Carter was most recently the director of strength & conditioning for FC Barça Residency Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona, a high-level soccer training academy linked to Spanish soccer power FC Barcelona.
Carter previously worked as the strength & conditioning coach for the Chinese National Mountain Biking and Track Cycling teams and collegiate programs at Purdue University and Shorter University. As an undergraduate, Carter was a two-sport athlete for Emory & Henry, playing football and men’s tennis.
