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University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Former Asheville coaches hired by New York Jets
03.15.2021 | Track and Field, Athletics News
ASHEVILLE N.C. – Former UNC Asheville head track and field coach Dr. Brad DeWeese and former Bulldog head strength coach Dr. Omar Ahmad have both been hired by the New York Jets.
DeWeese, who was hired as the New York Jets Director of Performance, served many roles while on campus at Asheville, including both assistant and head coach for the Bulldog track & field and cross country programs, strength and conditioning coordinator, as well as working as professor while at Asheville. Among many positions, DeWeese would go on to work as the Head of Sport Physiology for the United States Olympic Committee's Winter Division based in Lake Placid, New York.
"I have known Dr. Brad DeWeese for approximately 20 years," UNC Asheville Track & Field Head Coach Joel Williams said. "Brad is extremely deserving and highly qualified to direct the sports performance aspects of the New York Jets. He has the unique characteristics and background as an individual who has both an outstanding sports science background as well as being an excellent hands-on coach for speed and strength-power development. Not only is Brad very well versed in the sports science support and underpinnings of elite performance but also how to practically apply those theories into the methods of a highly effective long-term program."
Ahmad, who was named an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Jets, is an Asheville native who attended Roberson High School before joining the Bulldog family, serving as a team captain for three seasons. Ahmad was also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, serving as president his senior year. Upon graduation in 2008, Ahmad began working in college athletics, quickly returning to Asheville where he would serve as the head strength and conditioning coach for six years. Ahmad's stops since Asheville have included University of Missouri-Columbia, HCA Healthcare and Richard Bland College of William & Mary where he was the Assistant Director of Athletics.
"I first met (soon to be Dr.) Omar Ahmad when I began coaching at UNC Asheville and he was a senior student-athlete in 2007-2008," Williams said. "He impressed me then with his maturity, intelligence and the fact that he was a very good student and team leader. After he returned to UNC Asheville following graduate school, his performance here as the head strength coach was exemplary. I saw firsthand his coaching and programming serving well the development of many student athletes of all of our sports including a number of track and field athletes I also coached."
"My decision to attend UNC Asheville was one of the best decisions I ever made," Ahmad said. "I knew it was going to change my life, but I had no idea it would lead me here."
To view the official release from the New York Jets, click here.
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