BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Head Football Coach Mike Sanford has tabbed Jason Veltkamp to lead the Hilltoppers in the weight room, the program announced on Thursday.
"We are thrilled to add Jason Veltkamp to our staff and lead our strength and conditioning program. Not only will he be an incredible leader of men in the weight room, he will also be an effective and highly influential person in their lives off the field. Jason has a wealth of experience leading programs to New Year's Six bowl games, and his expertise in injury prevention will be an invaluable resource for our team. He is also a great motivator who will prepare our players to succeed at the highest level."
Veltkamp comes to The Hill with over 20 years of of experience both professionally and collegiately with stops at the Cleveland Browns, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Utah, and Louisville, including serving as the strength and conditioning director at the latter four stops. Under his direction, Veltkamp's programs have reached three New Year's Six (then BCS) bowl games including: 2007 Orange Bowl (Louisville), 2011 Sugar Bowl (Arkansas) and 2012 Cotton Bowl (Arkansas).
Over his 20-plus year career in the field, Veltkamp has worked with and developed 58 NFL Draft selections including four NFL first-round draft picks in defensive tackle Amobe Okoye (Houston), offensive tackle Jordan Gross (Carolina), quarterback Alex Smith (San Francisco) and offensive guard Eric Wood (Buffalo). Veltkamp also helped develop basketball center Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee) and has trained other professional athletes offensive linemen Travis Swanson (Detroit) and Breno Giacomini (Houston), defensive linemen Elvis Dumervil (San Francisco) and Chris Smith (Cleveland), defensive backs Josh Jones (Green Bay), Eric Weddle (Baltimore), and William Gay (Pittsburgh), quarterback Ryan Mallett (Baltimore), wide receiver Jarius Wright (Minnesota) and running back Matt Dayes (Cleveland).
Veltkamp spent three seasons as the head football strength and conditioning coach at North Carolina State (2013-15) which coincided with two bowl appearances and the careers of quarterback Jacoby Brissett and Joe Thuney. Following his career at NC State, Thuney went on to be drafted by the New England Patriots and earn PFWA All-Rookie Team honors and a Super Bowl LI Championship in the 2016 season.
In 2015, Veltkamp was honored by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association with "Master" designation, the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning profession.
Prior to NC State, Veltkamp spent eight years with former WKU head coach Bobby Petrino at two stops, first at Louisville (2004-07) then at Arkansas (2008-12), both in the capacity of head strength and conditioning coach. The run at Louisville and Arkansas included six bowl games and two conference championships at Louisville.
From 2001-03, the Bozeman, Mont., native was the director of strength and conditioning at the University of Utah under head coaches Urban Meyer and Ron McBride after working as a strength and conditioning assistant from 1999-2000.
During his tenure with the Utes, the football team won two Mountain West Conference championships, earned three bowl bids and had wins over Southern California in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl and Southern Mississippi in the 2003 Liberty Bowl. The men's basketball team also won three conference titles and earned three NCAA Tournament bids with Veltkamp organizing its workouts.
Veltkamp began his career in 1995 as a student assistant and volunteer coach working with the offensive line at Carroll College in Helena, Mont. In 1996, he moved into the strength and conditioning field as the coach for the Helena Ice Pirates Junior "A" hockey team for the 1996 season.
He returned to Carroll and assisted with spring practice before working at Utah State as a strength and conditioning graduate assistant from 1997-98. His time at USU saw him work with 14 sports, including football, basketball, volleyball and track.
A graduate of Carroll College, Veltkamp was a four-year starter for the Fighting Saints, playing for Bob Petrino, Sr. He was a two-time all-conference performer in 1993 and 1994 and was also a team captain on the 1994 team.
Veltkamp earned his master's degree in exercise science from Utah State in 1998 and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a member of the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association and American Football Coaches Association.
Veltkamp and his wife, Kristen, have two sons, Caden and Colton.
THE VELTKAMP FILE
PERSONAL
Born: June 1, 1973
Hometown: Bozeman, Mont.
College: Carroll College, '95
Wife: Kristen
Children: Caden and Colton
PLAYING CAREER (Offensive Line – Center)
College: Carroll (1991-94)
COACHING CAREER
1995-96: Carroll College (Offensive Line Coach)
1997-98: Utah State (Strength and Conditioning Graduate Assistant)
1999-01: Utah (Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach)
2001-03: Utah (Director of Strength and Conditioning)
2004-07: Louisville (Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach)
2008-12: Arkansas (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach)
2013-15: North Carolina State (Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach)
2016-17: Cleveland Browns (Strength and Conditioning Coordinator)
2018: WKU (Director of Football Strength and Conditioning)
BOWL EXPERIENCE
1997: Humanitarian (Utah State, Coach)
1999: Las Vegas (Utah, Coach)
2001: Las Vegas (Utah, Coach)
2003: Liberty (Utah, Coach)
2004: Liberty (Louisville, Coach)
2005: Gator (Louisville, Coach)
2006: Orange (Louisville, Coach)
2009: Liberty (Arkansas, Coach)
2010: Sugar (Arkansas, Coach)
2011: Cotton (Arkansas, Coach)
2014: St. Petersburg (NC State, Coach)
2015: Belk (NC State, Coach)
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