University of Tennessee Athletics
Football Announces New Sports Performance Staff Hires
January 28, 2026 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football has finalized its sports performance staff with the addition of six new hires under the direction of Derek Owings, head coach Josh Heupel announced Wednesday.
Owings was recently named the Volunteers' new director of football sports performance after serving in the same role for national champion Indiana the last two seasons. Owings' staff includes (click names for full bios):
Wooding comes to Tennessee after serving as the associate director of football strength and conditioning at Maryland the last five seasons (2021-25). He previously served as the associate strength and conditioning coach for Texas Tech football for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Blackman spent the last three seasons as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Kansas State football (2023-25). Prior to Manhattan, he worked at Colorado State (2019-22) and has SEC experience as a graduate assistant at Arkansas (2018-19) and as an intern at South Carolina (2017).
Painter was the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Baylor football from 2024-25. He joined the Bears following a successful on-field career as a tight end at James Madison from 2018-22 where he was trained by Owings.
O'Connor owns over eight years of team nutrition experience, including five years in the head role. She joins the Vols after serving as the director of nutrition for Kansas football from December 2023 through the 2025 season. Prior to her time in Lawrence, she served as the assistant football dietitian at LSU for two seasons (2022-23). She was the first director of performance nutrition at Georgia Southern (2021-22) after interning at Florida State (2019-21) where she earned her master's degree.
The entire sports performance staff has been on site in Knoxville since last week as Tennessee began its winter workout program in conjunction with the start of the spring semester.
Owings was recently named the Volunteers' new director of football sports performance after serving in the same role for national champion Indiana the last two seasons. Owings' staff includes (click names for full bios):
- Carl Miller, Associate Director of Football Sports Performance
- Jason Wooding, Associate Director of Football Sports Performance
- Elijah Blackman, Assistant Director of Football Sports Performance
- Drew Painter, Assistant Director of Football Sports Performance
- Josh Huff, Director of Applied Performance Science
- Katie O'Connor, Director of Football Nutrition
Wooding comes to Tennessee after serving as the associate director of football strength and conditioning at Maryland the last five seasons (2021-25). He previously served as the associate strength and conditioning coach for Texas Tech football for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Blackman spent the last three seasons as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Kansas State football (2023-25). Prior to Manhattan, he worked at Colorado State (2019-22) and has SEC experience as a graduate assistant at Arkansas (2018-19) and as an intern at South Carolina (2017).
Painter was the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Baylor football from 2024-25. He joined the Bears following a successful on-field career as a tight end at James Madison from 2018-22 where he was trained by Owings.
O'Connor owns over eight years of team nutrition experience, including five years in the head role. She joins the Vols after serving as the director of nutrition for Kansas football from December 2023 through the 2025 season. Prior to her time in Lawrence, she served as the assistant football dietitian at LSU for two seasons (2022-23). She was the first director of performance nutrition at Georgia Southern (2021-22) after interning at Florida State (2019-21) where she earned her master's degree.
The entire sports performance staff has been on site in Knoxville since last week as Tennessee began its winter workout program in conjunction with the start of the spring semester.
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