ForumsThe University of Tennessee football program announced Monday that Ron McKeefery has been named football head strength and conditioning coach. The 2008 Under Armour Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, McKeefery recently spent 11 seasons at the University of South Florida from 2000-10, where he served as assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning and the head strength and conditioning coach.
McKeefery’s most recent role was as the human performance coordinator for the United States Army Special Forces, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, in Fort Campbell, Ky.
“Our program improved significantly today with the addition of Ron McKeefery as our football head strength and conditioning coach,” said Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley. “Ron has a track record of proven success in the South over a sustained period of time and is a man of high character and integrity who views Tennessee as a program with unlimited potential.
“We are excited to add a strength and conditioning coach of Ron’s caliber and background to our football program, and we believe his efforts and intensity will play a critical role in our program’s return to a perennial championship contender.”
A key member of the South Florida coaching staff, McKeefery’s tenure with the Bulls coincided with that program’s rise from Division I-AA to perennial Big East Conference contender. In addition to six consecutive bowl games and 16 NFL draft picks, the success of his strength and conditioning program is best exemplified by the fact that South Florida was 10-0 in overtime during his tenure and also outscored opponents by a three-to-one margin in the fourth quarter during his 11 seasons.
“I am very excited to be at the University of Tennessee and to work with some of the best student-athletes in America,” said McKeefery. “Coach Dooley, the staff, and administration have the utmost character and integrity, and I am eager to begin working with the student-athletes and to contribute to the positive impact that the University is having in their lives.”
The Missouri native owns a bachelor of arts in biology from Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., and a master of arts in adult education from South Florida. McKeefery earned all-conference honors in both football and track at Ottawa and was also a two-time Academic All-American.
After spending one season as a coach with Ottawa, McKeefery worked as an intern with the Kansas City Royals in Major League Baseball. In the two years before coming to South Florida, he worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1999 season, a year in which the Bucs played in the NFC Championship Game. McKeefery also spent the 2000 season as the head strength and conditioning coach with the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe.
He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist w/Distinction (CSCS*D) and Coach Practitioner under the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as well as a Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) under the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). He also served as the state NSCA Director for Florida (North) and is certified by both the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA).
Ron is married to the former Angela Hamilton and th
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