The New York Jets are dipping into East Tennessee for a key off-the-field hire, multiple sources tell FootballScoop.
East Tennessee State University Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance, Dr. Brad DeWeese, has emerged as the Jets' primary target for their top strength and conditioning position under first-year coach Robert Saleh.
Sources confirm to FootballScoop that DeWeese has accepted the position and is finalizing a deal. He will become the Jets' Director of Performance.
Per his bio on the ETSU Web site, DeWeese is both the lead of the Buccaneers' sports performance/strength department as well as a tenured professor at the school tucked in Johnson City, Tennessee, just miles from both the North Carolina and Virginia borders.
DeWeese's resumè includes lengthy international and Olympic work. He's trained more than 20 Olympic and World Cup medal-winners. Additionally, DeWeese has helped train and tutor athletes who have won seven world championship titles in various sports and also more than 100 medals in World Cup and Pan-American events across multiple platforms.
He also served as Head of Sport Physiology at the USA's Olympic Winter Division facility in Lake Placid, N.Y, before he arrived in dual-capacity at ETSU.
DeWeese owns a pair of degrees from Western Carolina and his doctorate from North Carolina State University.
A year ago, DeWeese was a featured speaker at Duke University's inaugural Winter Sports Performance clinic.
In addition to his present duties in the classroom and the weight room at ETSU, DeWeese also continues to excel as a private coach for Olympic hopefuls in a variety of sports, including track and field, bobsled, skeleton and others.
The Jets have continued to overhaul virtually all aspects of their organization since they hired Saleh, a noted defensive mind, in mid-January away from the San Francisco 49ers, where he served as their defensive coordinator.
Saleh was awarded a five-year contract to take over the Jets, who finished the 2020 season just 2-14 and fired Adam Gase after just two seasons.
New York is slated to pick No. 2 overall in next month's NFL Draft.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest news.