2009 ARMY FOOTBALL ASSISTANT COACHES
BRETT GERCH STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
1ST SEASON AT ARMY APPALACHIAN STATE, 2000 Strength and conditioning coach Brett G Gerch joined the Army staff in February 2009. Gerch came to West Point after work2 iing with head coach Rich Ellerson at Cal Poly during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. P In his two years at Cal Poly, Gerch was not only responsible for designing and imn plementing the strength and conditioning program for Ellerson’s football team, which finished ranked eighth nationally in 2008, but also for all 20 of the Mustangs’ varsity programs. Prior to his tenure in San Luis Obispo, Gerch worked for one year on the strength and conditioning staff at the University of Delaware where he assisted with the football team and oversaw the strength and speed programs for the Blue Hens’ tennis, softball, soccer, rowing, and track and field teams. Gerch worked outside of intercollegiate athletics for four years prior to joining the Delaware staff. From 2003-06, he was the head sports performance coach at Velocity Sports Performance in Baltimore, Md., training professional, college and high school athletes in various sports with an emphasis on weight lifting, agility and speed development. During his time in Baltimore, Gerch also served as a part-time assistant strength coach with the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens. The 2000 graduate of Appalachian State University also boasts experience on the campuses of the University of Richmond (2002-03), Western Carolina University (2001-02) and the University of North Carolina (2000-01), where he assisted in the training of NFL standouts Julius Peppers and Ronald Curry. He has designed workout programs for a variety of sports, including soccer, field hockey, swimming and diving, golf, gymnastics, and softball. Gerch spent the summer of 1999 as a strength and conditioning specialist with the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. While emphasizing weight lifting, stability, plyometrics and speed, Gerch coached such athletes as 2002 Olympic skeleton gold medalists Jim Shea and Tristan Gale, luge silver medalists Brian Martin and Mark Grimmette and short-track speed skaters Apolo Ohno and Rusty Smith. Gerch began his undergraduate education at Oregon State University, serving as a student assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Beavers’ football
THE GERCH FAMILY: BRETT AND SHANDRIKA THE GERCH FILE Year at Army: 1st Career Year: 10th Hometown: Lincoln, Neb. Family: wife, Shandrika EDUCATION B.S., Exercise Science, Appalachian State, 2000 M.E., Physical Education, Western Carolina, 2002 COACHING EXPERIENCE (last position held is listed) 2009-present: Army (head football strength and conditioning coach) 2007-08: Cal Poly (head strength and speed coach) 2006-07: University of Delaware (asst. strength and conditioning coach) 2004-06: Baltimore Ravens (part-time strength coach) 2002-03: University of Richmond (asst. strength and conditioning coach) 2001-02: Western Carolina (asst. strength and conditioning coach) 2000-01: North Carolina (grad. asst. strength and conditioning coach) CERTIFICATIONS Certified strength and conditioning specialist — National Strength Coaches Association; USA Weightlifting and basketball programs. He continued in that role after transferring to Appalachian State where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. A certified strength and conditioning specialist and a certified member of USA Weightlifting, Gerch earned a master’s degree in physical education from Western Carolina in 2002. Gerch is married to the former Shandrika Lee of Riverside, Calif., who serves as an assistant coach for the Black Knights’ women’s basketball program. The couple resides at West Point.
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