After spending the last two seasons heading up the strength and conditioning program under Mark Richt at the University of Georgia, Gus Felder is now the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Hurricanes.
John Thomas and Kelin Jonhson are also following Felder from Georgia to join Miami’s strength and conditioning program. Thomas will take the position of associate strength and conditioning coach and Johnson will move into the role of assistant director of strength and conditioning.
Felder, a Philadelphia native, was a standout player at Penn State, where he was named All Big Ten in 2001 and 2002. He had a short stint in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns before beginning his coaching career.
Richt thought highly of Felder when he first hired him. “Gus has a tremendous background in football and strength and conditioning specially,” Richt said.
Felder is replacing former Strength and Conditioning Coach Andreu Swasey, who had been a part of the Canes’ coaching staff since 2000. He was not only in charge of the daily workout regimen for the football program, but he also oversaw the workout needs of all 18 of Miami’s scholarship sports.
“Coach Richt wanted to bring in his own guy, which is understandable,” Swasey said to the Miami Herald.
Swasey had been with Canes though several coaching administrations, but his most important contributions came in the beginning of the Al Golden era. When Golden took over ahead of the 2011 season, Swasey implemented several programs including “The Fifth Quarter” and “Creative Excellence.”
“If it wasn’t for Swasey, our teams would have been way worse than they’ve been the past few years,” former Hurricane receiver Santana Moss said to the Miami Herald.
Swasey was well known for having former Hurricanes in the NFL return to campus and train with him.
“Everything he did, he did for the University of Miami. We came back for Swasey,” another former Hurricane receiver, Sinorice Moss, said to the Miami Herald.