U-M Announces Strength and Conditioning Support Staff
2/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 8, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan football coach Brady Hoke announced today (Tuesday, Feb. 8) the hiring of four assistant strength and conditioning coaches that will work with director of strength and conditioning Aaron Wellman in the Schembechler Hall weight room. Aaron Hillmann, Mark Naylor and Corey Twine join the Michigan football staff, while the services of long-time strength coach Jim Plocki were retained by Hoke.
"Aaron, Mark, Corey and Jim are experienced coaches who will do everything they can to help our players develop and reach their maximum potential in the weight room and on the football field," said Hoke. "The attitude, toughness and chemistry of the team are developed through winter and summer conditioning. The disciplines learned in the weight room will carry over into all aspects of their life."
Michigan added a pair of head strength and conditioning coaches in Hillman and Naylor, and Twine was an assistant at West Virginia University after working for NASA. Hillman spent the past 10 seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach at Bowling Green State University. Mark Naylor took over for Wellman at Ball State University and spent the last three seasons as the director of football strength and conditioning. Twine was at WVU for three seasons after spending five-plus years as strength and conditioning coach for NASA at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Following are biographies on the three new appointments:
AARON HILLMANN
Aaron Hillmann is in his first year as assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Michigan. He brings 20 years of strength and conditioning experience to Michigan, previously serving 10 years as the head strength and conditioning coach at Bowling Green University, overseeing all 18 sports at BGSU. Prior to his stint with the Falcons, Hillman served as an assistant strength coach at Notre Dame (1998-2001), Connecticut (1996-98), Cincinnati (1995-96) and Ball State (1992-95).
Hillmann also spent time as a strength and conditioning specialist for the Pittsburgh Steelers (summer, 1994), assisting in the supervision of their preseason strength and conditioning program.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Hillmann graduated from Missouri in 1991 with a bachelor of science degree in secondary education from Missouri. He and his wife, Dina, have two sons, Jacob and Jonah, and a daughter, Skylar.
MARK NAYLOR
Mark Naylor is in his first year as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Michigan. He previously served as director of Ball State University's football strength and conditioning program from 2009-11, taking over for departed strength and conditioning coach, Aaron Wellman. His previous experience includes stops as a strength and conditioning assistant with the Baltimore Ravens (2006-07) and as a graduate assistant with Ball State (2004-05) and Missouri Southern (2003).
Naylor earned his undergraduate degree from Missouri Southern in 2003 before pursuing his master's at Ball State in 2006.
A native of Broken Arrow, Okla., he and his wife, the former Melissa Obermann, have two children, daughter Macy and son Matthew.
COREY TWINE
Corey Twine is in his first season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Michigan football program. He arrives in Ann Arbor after spending three years at West Virginia (2008-10).
Prior to joining the WVU staff, Twine was the astronaut strength and conditioning coach at Wyle Laboratories, Inc. (NASA) at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He coordinated the physical readiness and assessments for all active astronauts, formulated and implemented programs and consulted with engineers and biomedical staff on exercise hardware issues.
Twine was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Michigan State for two years (Sept. 2000-Aug. 2002). He worked with Aaron Wellman while in East Lansing. Twine was the head strength and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor league organization in Charleston, S.C., for seven months in 2000 and was a strength and conditioning intern at Penn State from Sept. 1999 to Dec. 1999. He also worked camps with the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and Notre Dame.
Twine earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Norfolk State in 2000. He received a master's degree in kinesiology from Michigan State in 2002.
Media Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4223
