Support Staff JACK MARUCCI
Director of Athletic Training A leader in the field of athletic training, Jack Marucci enters his 21st season as director of athletic training at LSU. Since joining the Tigers, Marucci’s leadership and vision has moved LSU to the forefront of athletic training at the collegiate level. As director of athletic training, Marucci oversees the athletic training operation for all 21 varsity sports, which includes supervising a staff of six fulltime trainers and 10 graduate assistants. An experienced trainer with a strong background in collegiate athletics, Marucci helped design the Broussard Center for Athletic Training at Tiger Stadium as well as the one located in the Football Operations Building, which the football team operates out of on a daily basis. At LSU, Marucci has been part of two national titles in football and four SEC Championships. Marucci served as an assistant athletic trainer at Florida State from 1988-96, a stint that included eight bowl trips with the Seminoles. While in Tallahassee, he also served as the host trainer for two NCAA regional baseball tournaments. Marucci graduated from West Virginia in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training and then gained his master’s from Alabama in 1988, serving as a graduate assistant trainer for the Crimson Tide from 1986-88. He also worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987 and the Cleveland Browns in 1985. Off the field, Marucci has mastered the art of crafting wooden baseball bats and founded his own company, the Marucci Bat Company. The bat company, which originally started with a workshop in his backyard, now has hundreds of Major Leaguers swinging its bats, including Albert Pujols and the 2006 NL MVP and home run champion Ryan Howard. Marucci’s bats, which now include a line of aluminum bats for both baseball and softball, are the fastest-growing bat in baseball. The Marucci Bat Company has also been represented in both the Major League All-Star Game and the World Series in recent years with numerous Major Leaguers swinging the Marucci Bat. Marucci has a son, Gino, who is a member of the baseball team at the University of Houston, and a daughter, Sarah, who is a freshman at LSU.
TOMMY MOFFITT
Strength & Conditioning Coordinator Considered by many in college football to be one of the nation’s premier strength and conditioning coaches, Tommy Moffitt enters his 17th season at LSU after coming to the Tiger staff from the University of Miami. In 16 years with the Tigers from 2000-15, Moffitt helped strength train and condition an LSU football team that won 160 games during that span, easily the best stretch in school history. It was Moffitt’s offseason program that helped pave the way to national titles in 2003 and 2007 for the Tigers and LSU’s undefeated regular-season in 2011. Moffitt was named the 2003 College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year by America Football Monthly. Moffitt has been part of national championship football teams at LSU (twice), Miami and Tennessee. Moffitt was appointed LSU’s strength and conditioning coordinator on Jan. 10, 2000. In February 2000, Moffitt was named the 1999 Collegiate Football Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society. In 16 years with the Tigers, Moffitt has developed LSU into one of the most durable teams around by combining a program that focuses on both strength and speed. Moffitt has also incorporated yoga and karate routines in the Tigers’ offseason program, which increases the player’s flexibility, while forcing the team to stay focused for a lengthy period of time. Moffitt served as the head strength and conditioning coach at Miami for two years, helping head coach Butch Davis rebuild the Hurricane program. While at Miami, Moffitt was named the 1998 Big East Strength Coach of the Year. Moffitt went to Miami after four seasons, 1994-97, as associate head strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee. A 1986 graduate of Tennessee Tech, Moffitt started his career as an assistant football coach at John Curtis High School in River Ridge, La., from 1987-94, earning the 1992 National High School Strength Coach of the Year award given by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society. Born in Springfield, Tenn., Moffitt is married to the former Jill Beron and they have three children, Clay, who is a pitcher at LSU-Eunice, Aaron, who is an all-state defensive lineman for state champion Catholic High School, and Brady.
SHELLY MULLENIX
Senior Associate Athletic Trainer Shelly Mullenix began at LSU in 1997 as part of the LSU Athletic Training Staff, coming to Baton Rouge from Florida State, where she worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer from 1992-1993. She was promoted to assistant athletic trainer at FSU in 1993 and served in that capacity until December 1996. As LSU’s senior associate athletic trainer, Mullenix plays a key role in servicing the athletic training needs of the football team on a day-to-day basis. She also serves the Department of Kinesiology as a clinical supervisor for the Athletic Training Education Program. In addition to Mullenix’s role as an athletic trainer with the Football program, she also was given the title of director of wellness in the spring of 2009. As the director of wellness, Mullenix’s duties are very diverse. She serves as the athletic training liaison to the Athletic Department Assistance Program (ADAP) which helps to maintain the physical and psychological well-being of the studentathlete and is the athletic training liaison to the Academic Center for Student-Athletes assisting in the identification and treatment of academic and behavioral issues. She works collaboratively with the Athletic Department’s sports dieticians by working with the student-athletes in providing nutritional guidance given in both team format as well as one-on-one individualized counseling. Administratively, she assists with the recruitment of athletic training students, serves as co-coordinator of graduate athletic trainer development, and provides leadership and guidance in the development of athletic training administrative policies. Mullenix also owns Integrated Sports Management, LLC, a consulting company that provides a unique system of program administration integrating four critical components of successful
COACHES
collegiate athletics: drug testing, mental health services, peer leadership and proper nutrition. Through ISM, Mullenix has consulted with several Division I programs and worked three seasons as a contracted consultant for the Miami Dolphins providing support services in the area of nutritional and psychological consultation. She is married to Matthew Mullenix and has twin daughters, Maggie and Briana.
GREG STRINGFELLOW
Equipment Manager Greg Stringfellow enters his 12th season as LSU’s equipment manager after being elevated to the position in the spring of 2004. Stringfellow served as the interim equipment manager during LSU’s National Championship season in 2003, stepping in for longtime equipment manager Jeff Boss, who passed away in the fall of 2003 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Stringfellow, one of the many equipment managers who learned the trade under Boss, enters his 18th season overall with the Tigers. He previously served as a student assistant in the LSU equipment room for five years. As a member of the equipment staff, Stringfellow is responsible for the ordering and maintaining of equipment and facilities for the LSU football team as well as LSU’s 20 other sports. Stringfellow lettered two years in football at McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, Ala., before coming to LSU, where he earned a degree in construction management in 1997. An avid golfer, Stringfellow is a member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association and annually works the Senior Bowl in Mobile. He is married to the former Ashley Mitnick, a former LSU soccer standout. The couple has four children, Sarah Elizabeth, Lily Grace, Harper and Blakely.
FERRELL SHILLINGS
Assistant Equipment Manager Ferrell Shillings is now in his 25th season on the LSU equipment staff after joining the Tigers in 1991. A native of St. Amant, La., Shillings oversees the LSU athletics central receiving department. He is also responsible for the daily delivery of overnight packages within the athletics department, while also working closely with the Tiger football team. Shillings lettered four years in football, four years in basketball and once in baseball at St. Amant High. He worked for 33 years as a supervisor at South Central Bell Telephone in Baton Rouge before he turned his attention to the field of athletic equipment. Shillings is a member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association and the SEC Equipment Managers Association. He is also a lifetime member of the Telephone Pioneers.
AUSTIN THOMAS
Assistant Athletic Director/Player Personnel Austin Thomas joined the Tiger football staff in April of 2013 and serves as LSU’s Director of Player Personnel. Thomas was promoted to assistant athletic director in late spring of 2016 after returning to Baton Rouge following a brief stay at Southern Cal. Among Thomas’ primary responsibilities include prospect evaluation, managing recruiting events as well as maintaining LSU’s recruiting database and updating the recruiting board. In Thomas’ first two seasons at LSU, he helped the Tigers claim back-to-back Top 5 signing classes in 2014 and 2015, which included signing the nation’s top overall player in 2014. Thomas, who also assists with the overall management of LSU’s current roster, was one of three finalist for the 2014 Football Scoop Director of Player Personnel of the Year Award. Thomas, who received his undergraduate degree from Lipscomb in 2008 and followed that with a master’s degree in sport management from Tennessee, is also responsible for maintaining LesMiles.net. Thomas joined LSU after a brief stint at Bowling Green, where he served as the Falcons’ director of recruiting and player personnel. Thomas got his start in college athletics in the fall of 2008 when he served as a recruiting intern at Tennessee. He then served as a defensive assistant for a year under Monte Kiffin at Tennessee from June 2009 to May 2010. Thomas joined the Southern Cal staff in June of 2010, first serving as a defensive and recruiting assistant for a year before moving into operations in April of 2011. He was promoted to assistant director of operations/recruiting in April of 2012, a post he held until March of 2013. Thomas is a native of Franklin, Tenn., and is married to the former Brittney Piper. The couple has a one-year-old son, Paul Austin Thomas III, who was born in June 2015.
BRIAN SQUEGLIA
Lead Player Personnel Analyst Brian Squeglia enters his first season as LSU’s lead personnel analyst. Squeglia assists in the strategic planning and execution of prospect identification. Squeglia comes to Baton Rouge after two seasons as a football recruiting specialist at Mississippi State. Squeglia was heavily involved with the Bulldogs’ 2015 class, which was rated 16th nationally for the highest ranking in Mississippi State history. Prior to his stint at Mississippi State, Squeglia served as a defensive assistant coach and assistant director of football operations at Jacksonville University for two seasons. Squeglia earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from the University of North Florida in May 2011 and his master’s in leadership and organizational development in spring 2014. Squeglia is engaged to Amarilys Torres of Chicago, Illinois.
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