FootballScoop is proud to announce that Ken Mannie is the 2015 FootballScoop Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year presented by ProGrass.
One year after winning the Cotton Bowl and two years after winning the Rose Bowl, Michigan State won the Big Ten and reached the College Football Playoff this fall despite being a so-called "developmental program," where, unlike other programs in the echelon the Spartans presently occupy, five-star recruits don't necessarily flow out of the water fountains.
This isn't meant to be a shot at Michigan State's coaches or recruiting staffs. What it is, though, is a testament to the work by strength coach Ken Mannie and his staff.
The Spartans win in the fourth quarter, they win in the trenches, and they win in the off-season, developing players year after year that out-perform expectations.
If that testament isn't enough, consider the praise from his Cotton Bowl opponent late last month.
Mannie recently completed his 21st season as Michigan State's strength coach and 41st in the industry -- making him the longest-tenured head football strength coach in the Big Ten. A member of the USA Strength/Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association Board of Directors, Mannie spent nine years at Toledo before arriving in East Lansing. Mannie was a three-year letterwinner at Akron, earning his bachelor's degree in 1974 and his Master's in exercise science from Ohio State in 1985.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by ProGrass are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Mike Brass [Navy], Scott Cochran [Alabama] and Mannie) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Mannie will be recognized at an event at the AFCA Convention next week.
Previous winners of the Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year award are Don Sommer (TCU, 2008), Joey Batson (Clemson, 2009), Kevin Yoxall (Auburn, 2010), Shannon Turley (Stanford, 2011), Kaz Kazadi (Baylor, 2012), Pat Ivey (Missouri, 2013) and Zac Woodfin (UAB, 2014).
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