Sports Medicine

The Tennessee Technological University Sports Medicine Department is an integral part of the Athletics Department. The Sports Medicine Department is made up of four full-time Certified Athletic Trainers, four Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainers, and several student athletic trainers. This staff is responsible for the health and well-being of all 16 sports and more than 300 student-athletes.

The Head Athletic Trainer is Joe Erdeljac, MS, ATC, who is in his second year at Tech. Also on his staff are assistant athletic trainers Upton Dabney, Chris Fry and Adrienne Wilson.

The Sports Medicine Department also has a Registered Physical Therapist on staff, Chuck Williams, who works several days a week in a satellite clinic. The Physical Therapist is here for the student-athletes, the students and faculty on staff with the TTU community. This service is just like any other Physical Therapy Clinic where there is a fee for services, and most insurance is accepted.

Dr. Richard Williams is the University's Team Physician. He is assisted by several local physicians, along with a Team Optometrist and a Team Dentist.

Assisting the Athletic Training Staff:

Dr. Richard Williams
Team Physician

Dr. Richard Williams, M.S., M.D., serves as the Team Physician for Tennessee Tech student-athletes. A physician at Mid-State Sports Medicine, Dr. Williams has specialized in sports medicine throughout his professional medical career, including experience with high school, college, Olympic and professional athletes. He understands sports medicine from an athlete's point of view, participating on track and field and basketball teams during his high school and collegiate careers. A 1975 graduate of Crawfordsville (Indiana) High School, Dr. Williams also spent one year as a foreign exchange student in West Germany. He graduated Cum Laude (A.B.) from Dartmouth College, and went on to earn an M.S. degree in Medical and Molecular Genetics from Indiana University, and an M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Williams worked with the Indianapolis Colts training camp and provided volunteer medical support for high school soccer and football teams in Indianapolis during his senior year in medical school, and also served as a research assistant at the Methodist Sports Medicine Center. During his residency at the University of Cincinnati Hospitals, Dr. Williams provided coverage for local high school and college football teams, and worked extensively with the University of Cincinnati athletic teams. He earned an Orthopedic Sports Medicine Fellowship with Kentucky Sports Medicine in Lexington, and during the 1994-95 season was the team physician at Eastern Kentucky University, including primary game coverage in football and basketball, and training room coverage for all sports. He also worked with local high schools and the University of Kentucky sports medicine staff, and had extensive clinic and operating room experience in all aspects of sports medicine care. Since 1995, Dr. Williams has been in practice in the Upper Cumberland. He has assumed primary responsibility, training room care and game coverage and injury treatment for all of Tennessee Tech's athletic programs along with area high schools.

Kristine Germann, PA-C
Physician Assistant working with Women’s Sports

Kristine Germann covers several of the women’s sports programs and events at TTU. She specializes in primary care sports medicine and non-surgical orthopedics. A native of Jefferson City, Missouri, Kristine attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City Medical School. While there, she was a Division I varsity letterman in volleyball. She then went on to the Medical College of Georgia, completing her PA degree in 1994. She has 10 years of experience in various areas of health care including internal medicine, psychiatry and sports medicine. She has also worked with the LPGA tour in primary care and sports medicine for the professional lady golfers. Kristine has been practicing with Dr. Williams at Mid-State Sports Medicine since 2007.

Dr. James Talmage
General Practitioner/Consultant

Dr. James Talmage, M.D., has over a decade of providing a variety of services to Tennessee Tech's more than 300 student-athletes as general practitioner and consultant to the sports medicine staff. Currently a physician at the Occupational Health Center, Dr. Talmage moved to Cookeville in 1979 and has worked closely with the Tech sports medicine staff since 1987. While working with all men and women athletes, his primary area is the women's basketball program. After graduating with a degree in Physiology from The Ohio State University in 1968, he was Summa Cum Laude in 1972 from the OSU medical school. He served a one-year internship at the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, then served his residency at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. His career in practice began in 1977 at the Ireland Army Hospital at Fort Knox, Ky., before moving to Cookeville in 1979 to begin work at Upper Cumberland Orthopedic Surgery. He has since worked with Cookeville Regional Medical Center, Family Medical Center, Internal Medicine Group and Corporate Health Institute. He is Board Certified both in orthopedic surgery and in emergency medicine, and among his published works and lectures have been numerous items relating to athletic injuries and sports medicine.

Dr. Craig Maltman
General Practitioner/Consultant

Dr. Craig Maltman, M.D., is the newest member of the Tennessee Tech sports medicine team. For the past several years, Dr. Maltman has helped to improve the Tech program by providing services as a consultant to the sports medicine staff and a general practitioner for all of Tech's more than 300 student-athletes. Dr. Maltman is currently on the active staff at the North Cedar Medical Center. Born in Scotland, he was schooled in Canada. He earned his bachelor's degree with honors in 1983, his master's in Physiology in 1985, and his medical degree in 1987, all from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He also served a two-year residency in family practice at Queen's before embarking on his professional medical career in 1989. On November 7, 1992, the Athletic Training facilities were dedicated and named the Dr. William C. Francis Student Therapy/Athletic Training Complex. The renaming of our facility was in honor of Dr. William C. Francis, our long-time team physician who was instrumental in the health care of all TTU student-athletes for 35 years. The complex is a state-of-the-art Athletic Training facility and Physical Therapy Center. Dr. Francis passed away in October, 1996.

Dr. Mike Huddleston
Team Optometrist









Dr. Clark Childress
Team Dentist

Chuck Williams
Physical Therapist
TTU/CRMC Golden Eagles Sports Medicine Student Therapy Center

Chuck Williams has spent the past decade serving athletes everywhere from Massachusetts to Washington, from Colorado to Indiana. Now his varied experiences will help Tennessee Tech University student-athletes and community members who need physical therapy services. Williams serves as the physical therapist for TTU/CRMC Golden Eagle Sports Medicine, a partnership between Tennessee Tech Athletics and the Cookeville Regional Medical Center. A 1998 graduate of the University of Dayton Pre-Physical Therapy program, Williams also became a certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) the same year. He added his MSPT in 2000, became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) in 2001, and received his DPT in 2002. In 2006, he earned Sports Certified Specialist (SCS) status. Williams has been able to put all of his education into practice with positions in some outstanding locations, including Massachusetts General, Harvard University, Vail, Colo., Dayton, Wash., and Connersville, Ind. Williams, 34, began his professional career by gaining clinical and outpatient experiences while working at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in Boston from 1998 to 2000. He was a Physical Therapy and Athletic Trainer Fellow at Harvard University Sports Medicine in 2000, working with the football and men’s ice hockey teams. In 2001-02, he served as a staff Physical Therapist at Physical Therapy Health Services in Canton, Mass., before taking a position in 2002 at the Howard Head Sports Medicine Centers in Vail, Colo. While there, he was a physical therapist and Association Coordinator of Knee, Hip and Sports Rehabilitation. During that time, he spent a year-and-a-half as a physical therapist and athletic trainer to the U.S. Women’s World Cup Alpine and Olympic Ski Team, and developed accelerated rehab programs and return to sport programs for several NCAA athletes, NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA teams, plus professional soccer player and skiers. Williams moved to Dayton, Wash., in 2006 and spent two years as Director of Rehabilitation at Dayton General Hospital. That post allowed him to work extensively with high school student-athletes. Most recently, he has been Director of Rehabilitation and Wellness at Fayette Regional Health System in Connersville, Ind.

Williams will work in the TTU/CRMC Golden Eagle Sports Medicine Student Therapy Center, located inside the east side of Tucker Stadium. The center specializes in athletic and orthopaedic injuries and creates a convenient way for students, faculty and staff to attend physical therapy without leaving campus and is open to the community including youth and high school student-athletes who need the services offered by Golden Eagle Sports Medicine.