Rich Rodriguez brought in a familiar face to head up his strength and conditioning program at Jax State when he hired Parker Whiteman to start 2024.
Whiteman reunites with Rodriguez, who he worked with at three previous stops, after a five-year stint as the Head of Football Strength and Conditioning at Sam Houston. He was on Rodriguez’s staffs at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona.
The veteran with over 20 years of experience in the strength and conditioning field, led the efforts at Sam Houston while the Bearkats were one of the most dominant programs in FCS. Prior to leading SHSU into FBS and Conference USA alongside the Gamecocks in 2023, Whiteman helped the Bearkats to four winning seasons, two conference titles and the FCS National Championship after the 2020-21 season.
The native of Keyser, W.Va., he spent 11 seasons with Rodriguez, starting prior to the 2006 season when he was hired as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at West Virginia. After two seasons that saw the Mountaineers go 21-4 with a Big East Championship and trips to the Gator and Fiesta Bowls, Whiteman made the move to Michigan to be Rodriguez’s Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for three seasons.
He spent the 2011 season as a strength and conditioning coach at BARWIS Methods at Arizona before being named the Wildcats’ Director of Skill Development in 2012. He spent the next six seasons on Rodriguez’s staff at UA. He helped the Wildcats to five bowl games and a Pac-12 Division title.
Whiteman spent another brief stint at BARWIS before joining the Bearkats prior to the 2019 season.
He played football at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va., where he earned his degree in physical education and health in 2004. He then received his master’s in exercise science from McDaniel College in 2006.
He started his career as a strength coach at Velocity Sports Performance in 2004 and spent two seasons as a strength intern/coach for the Baltimore Ravens before joining Rodriguez’s staff at WVU.
