Tennessee football has six new members on its sports performance staff under director of football sports performance Derek Owings.
Owings was hired by Vols’ head coach Josh Heupel after serving in the same position at Indiana for the last two seasons. The Hoosiers won the 2025 national championship.
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Carl Miller and Jason Wooding were both named associate director of football sports performance, while Elijah Blackman and Drew Painter were each named assistant director of football sports performance.
Josh Huff was named director of applied performance science and Katie O’Connor will serve as director of football nutrition.
Miller comes to Tennessee from Indiana, where he served as the Hoosiers’ assistant athletic performance coach under Owings, training Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, 11 All-America standouts, 23 All-Big Ten performers and four Big Ten individual award winners from 2024-25.
Wooding most recently worked at Maryland as associate director of football strength and conditioning for the last five seasons (20021-25) under head coach Mike Locksley.
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Blackman most recently worked the last three seasons at Kansas State, serving as the Wildcats’ assistant strength and conditioning coach. He was also at Colorado State and as a graduate assistant at Arkansas.
Painter, a former tight end at James Madison, joins the Vols after serving as assistant strength and conditioning at Baylor.
Huff is also from Indiana where he worked with Owings, serving as the Hoosiers’ sports science coordinator and an assistant strength and conditioning coach. During his tenure in Bloomington, Indiana, the Hoosiers had a 27-2 record, two College Football Playoff appearances and won a national championship, going undefeated in 2025.
O’Connor comes to Tennessee after serving as director of nutrition for Kansas football from 2023-25. She oversaw the nutrition program, training table and supplemental protocols, while building specific individualized nutrition plans for athletes. O’Connor has experience in the SEC, working at LSU as the assistant football performance dietician from 2022-23.
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Josh Heupel details hiring Derek Owings from Indiana
Sixth-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed hiring Owings from Indiana.
“Physical and mental toughness is paramount in everything we do year-round as a program,” Heupel said. “No one understands this better at a championship level than Derek. He will elevate our strength and conditioning program with a relentless mindset and forge strong relationships with our players.
“He has a proven track record of utilizing modern training methods to maximize speed and strength, while specializing in injury prevention. He also understands what it takes to build an elite nutrition program to ensure our players are set up for on-field success and durability. We are thrilled to welcome Derek and his wife, Riley, to Rocky Top!”
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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Tennessee football finalizes 2026 sports performance staff
