By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Derek Headrick joins Tennessee Tech's Athletic Performance staff, bringing in valuable experience on the Southeastern Conference level. With his experience, he also brings a level of adaptability thanks to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, shifting his instruction methods as needed.
As he comes to Cookeville, Headrick touts three years of Division I experience with two Power Five programs and 12 different sports in his wheelhouse.
"I am thrilled to have Derek join our Athletic Performance staff," said Tech director of athletic performance Matt Hewett. "He is super high energy and brings a new dynamic to our staff. The SEC knowledge he has will be an incredible asset and I couldn't be more excited to add his knowledge to our staff."
Headrick himself is thrilled for the opportunity.
"Growing up just down the road in Maryville, it's great to be back close to home," he said. "It's just an honor to be here and getting to know everyone. It's been a great nine days so far and I'm still learning some names. With everywhere I've been, it's nice to get back closer to home and get to take advantage of a new opportunity here."
With the chance to work with someone as highly decorated as Coach Hewett is also a huge plus for Headrick.
"It has been a dream so far – other than the workouts he's put me through," he said with a laugh. "It's rough. I actually told him when I looked everything up and I saw his credentials CrossFit-wise, I thought to myself, 'I don't know if I can work out with these guys.' And that's saying a lot because I do like to work out.
"I am honored to be here and I'm already picking up different things from him. Working with football, it's been really nice getting to know everybody and still have that hometown feel even though you're at a Division I school."
Headrick was most recently a strength and conditioning graduate assistant at Auburn for two years. While there, he designed and implemented the strength and conditioning protocols for men's and women's tennis, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's diving and women's basketball. He also assisted with training for the women's basketball, softball, baseball, volleyball, track and field and men's golf teams. Last summer, he was the interim strength coach for the Auburn women's basketball team.
Before that, Headrick spent a season at South Carolina, working with football, baseball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's diving, and men's and women's track and field.
"I was truly honored and lucky to get to spend time with those programs," he said. "Absorbing all of that and bringing it here to Tech is something I probably couldn't explain enough. I got to work with a lot of great people and different teams. I'm trying to incorporate those into my own routines. Trying to make the teams the best I can is all I'm looking to do."
The biggest thing he learned during his tenure at those schools is appropriate considering the current climate of collegiate athletics in the COVID-19 era.
"Adaptability," Headrick said. "With everything going on right now in the country, nothing's set in stone and you just have to roll with the punches, as they say. Just got to make it day by day, figure it out the best you can and go from there."
From Zoom meetings to social distancing, strength and conditioning has seen plenty of changes over the last few months, but it's been almost an old-school approach.
"It's one of those things, especially when all of this started, you're sending out programs and really trying to get everyone as involved as possible, but you don't know if they have the equipment," Headrick said. "As a coach, it's really made me get outside my norm and learn, think about each situation or what someone might have or not have. You pinpoint things for each person.
"Right now with football, you're going back to the basics. This is what we can do. You have to stay in this section or area and keep your mask on. There's a lot of rules, but you can work on the basics and hopefully be even more athletic from it by working on ability and overall strength. It's been challenging, but you adapt to it and learn from it."
Headrick also spent nearly two years at Lee University as a student intern and assistant strength and conditioning coach as he earned his degree in December 2014 in physical education with a concentration in health, wellness and nutrition. He later earned his master's of education in kinesiology with an emphasis in motor development and sport psychology this past June at Auburn.
In addition to his collegiate work, Headrick also worked for almost two years as an assistant strength and speed coach at D1 Sports Training of Knoxville and served two stints as a head fitness instructor at Planet Fitness.
He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
A former student-athlete himself, Headrick played baseball on the NJCAA, NAIA and NCAA levels, then saw action for four years in professional baseball, including time in the Pecos League with the Great Bend Boom.
