Coach Sowers is back in Akron!

Congratulations and Welcome Home AGSP Founder & Supervisor, Coach Craig Sowers!

Be on the lookout for even more great things happening at Akron General Sports Performance with Coach Sowers being back in Akron! ~ Coach Amanda Kephart

University of Akron Names New Director of Strength and Conditioning for Football

Courtesy: Akron Media Relations
Release: 02/18/2011

Craig Sowers is Akron's new director of strength and conditioning for football.
View larger Courtesy: --

Craig Sowers is Akron's new director of strength and conditioning for football.
AKRON, Ohio - University of Akron alumnus and former Zips student-athlete Craig Sowers was named UA's director of strength and conditioning for football on Friday, second-year head coach Rob Ianello announced. Sowers boasts a diverse background in athletic performance and development at both the collegiate level and in the private sector.

"I am thrilled to add Craig to our staff and I know he is excited to return to Northeast Ohio and his alma mater," Ianello said. "He has a unique background in both strength training and speed development which will really benefit the growth of our players."

Since 2008, Sowers has been the assistant head coach for athletic performance at UCLA, where he assisted with training and designed and implemented a speed program for the Bruins' football team. He also had complete oversight of training for the men's volleyball and women's soccer squads.

Prior to relocating to the West Coast, Sowers served as the director of human performance for Akron General Sports Performance in Stow, Ohio, in 2007. During the four previous years, he was the director of performance at Velocity Sports Performance at locations in Mayfield Village, Ohio, and Irvine, Calif. In that role, he oversaw all aspects of speed, power and strength development for athletes at the high school, collegiate and professional level. He served on the Sports Performance Directors Advisory Council during that time and was its chairman in 2006-07.

From 2000-03, Sowers was the head strength and conditioning coach at UTEP. He oversaw all aspects of speed, strength and conditioning for the University's 17 NCAA varsity sports and approximately 350 athletes. The football team was Western Athletic Conference champions in 2000.

From 1996-2000, he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at UCLA and was in charge of men's and women's volleyball, men's and women's water polo, women's track and field, and men's and women's soccer, and also assisted with football. During his tenure at UCLA, both the men's soccer and women's water polo teams captured a national championship.

From 1993-96, Sowers was a student assistant on Akron's strength and conditioning staff.

Sowers earned a bachelor of science degree in physical education from UA in 1996 and was a member of the Zips' football team. He completed a master's degree in kinesiology from the UTEP in 2008 and is CSCS, SCCC and USAW Level I certified.