Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and Vice President, Sports Medicine and Performance Reggie Scott have officially announced their four-member sports performance staff for the 2021 NFL season.
The Rams will be welcoming back Justin Lovett as their new Director of Strength and Conditioning after he was brought on as the head strength coach last year. Prior to his arrival, his resume included stints with Purdue, Western Kentucky and Georgia, where he got well acquainted with the likes of tight end Tyler Higbee and running back Todd Gurley.
Jamel Cooper, John Griffin and Zach Witherspoon will be joining Lovett’s staff as Assistant Strength and Conditioning coaches for the upcoming season. Given the level of expectations this team has for next year, it is safe to say that they will have some big shoes to fill.
Cooper served as an assistant strength coach for Louisville since 2018 following his tenure as the senior coordinator of sports performance at Wake Forest in 2017. He spent the previous two years at Middle Tennessee State as the assistant strength and conditioning coach. Cooper also played running back for the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons.
Griffin served as the Senior Associate Director of Athletic Performance last year at Baylor and was the Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning at South Carolina before that. Like Cooper, he also enjoyed a brief stint in the NFL as a running back with the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets from 2011-13.
Witherspoon was the Director of Olympic Sports for the last five years at New Mexico State. His responsibilities included serving as the lead assistant for the football program while working directly with the basketball program as well. He also oversaw the implementation of sports performance technologies such as EliteForm, Polar Team Pro and 1080 Sprint.
Like the coaching staff, the onus will fall on the new additions to help kick things up a notch for the Rams in 2021.
