New Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Charland’s philosophy is simple: Work harder than any team the Billikens play.
“Our goal is to increase athleticism,” Charland said. “That means we are working on balance, flexibility, strength, endurance and speed. There are a lot of things that fall under the umbrella of athleticism.”
Before coming to SLU, Charland served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for Ohio State University since 2005. Charland worked with specific teams during his time with the Buckeyes.
“Basketball had [its] own strength coach, and football had their own guys,” Charland said. “I worked with a couple guys who got drafted in soccer, and I had a couple guys play professional tennis.”
Prior to his time at Ohio State, Charland held the position of head strength and conditioning coach at Birmingham-Southern College. While there, he helped design the school’s strength and conditioning facility at a time when the college was transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division-I athletics.
“[Charland] brings a level of experience, enthusiasm and discipline to our department that will help all our programs compete at a championship level within the Atlantic 10 Conference,” senior associate director of athletics Doug McIlhagga said in an online press release.
Charland graduated from Florida State University in 1996, with a degree in leisure studies and recreation administration. He received his master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Charland said the strength and conditioning department works with all SLU athletic teams to help reduce injury and increase athleticism.
“If we work harder than anyone else, and we know we work harder than our opponents, then we know we can beat them,” Charland said.
Most people only see the games or competitions, according to Charland, and they fail to realize the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.
“We are a support staff,” Charland said. “We are here to support the coaches and players with their goals for the teams. Anything we can do to help, we will try to do it.”
