Michigan football creates new position, hires director of sport science
New Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore is continuing to fill out his staff and he’s broadening what the Wolverines do behind the scenes.
Before he was officially hired, the expectation was that the program would grow internally, with an enhanced recruiting department, but it appears that Moore is looking beyond even that.
With Ben Herbert departing the program to head the strength and conditioning with the Los Angeles Chargers, Moore elevated assistant Justin Tress to lead the charge there. But he’s also not taking any chances about player development in the offseason.
According to his own Twitter account, Zach Higginbotham has been hired as the director of sport science for the maize and blue, further building out the strength and conditioning department.
Extremely excited to get the chance to be the new Director of Sport Science for Michigan football. Getting the chance to work at such an amazing storied organization, and continue to work in my hybrid role as a coach as well. Thankful for everyone who’s been apart of it! pic.twitter.com/8ePzFwBFz0
— Zach Higginbotham (@Coach_Zach32) February 17, 2024
According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a director of sport science has the following job description:
The Director of Performance and Sport Science serves as the senior applied research scientist of the Athletic Department (or Organization). This position leads department research initiatives to identify critical qualities and metrics related to enhancing athlete performance, health and safety, and talent identification. The role oversees the delivery and implementation of sport science services across all integrated support team (IST) disciplines and is capable of influencing athlete performance planning, resources, and organizational processes through data collection, coordination, and analysis.
In addition, the Director of Performance and Sport Science possesses a broad understanding of IST specialties (i.e., strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition, mental performance, etc.), in order to effectively provide leadership and support in a collaborative high-performance sport environment. The role requires frequent interaction with athletes, sport coaches, IST staff, department heads, and senior administration, in addition to the ability to develop and provide educational resources as needed, and to mentor and supervise multiple staff.
While his job description in Ann Arbor may vary from the above listing, it’s certain that he’ll be working hand-in-hand with Tress to help set goals and keep athletes on track with those goals.
Most recently, Higginbotham was at Cal as the applied science and reconditioning coordinator. Before that, he was the associate head strength and conditioning coach at FAU, an assistant at Ole Miss, ULM and Nevada, an intern at Ohio State under Urban Meyer, and an intern at Marshall, where he attended school. He received a bachelor of science in exercise physiology from Marshall in 2017 with a minor in psychology and played linebacker for the Thundering Herd.
