Joe Connolly is the Head Sports Performance Coach for Football at Arizona State University. Connolly arrived in Tempe in 2018 after serving as the director of sports performance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for two years primarily working with the football program. Prior to UMass, he was the director of strength and conditioning at the University of South Carolina. Connolly oversaw the training for the football and track and field programs at South Carolina for seven season from 2009-2015. Connolly got his start coaching in 2007 at Harvard University where he assisted with all 41 athletic teams. Following a year with Harvard, he spent one year as an athletic performance coach for football at the University of Louisville before joining the Gamecocks for his longest stop. 

Connolly is a Master Strength & Conditioning Coach through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association earning the highest honor in the profession in 2022. He was awarded Football Scoop Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2024 and was a nominee in 2026 for the NSCA’s Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year. Over his career, Coach Connolly has worked with over 45 NFL Draft picks including the 2014 number one overall pick, and has been a part of 11 bowl games.

A former four-year baseball at the University of Hartford, Connolly has shifted gears from his college playing days but has still found way to stay active himself both in and outside the weight room. Connolly is an avid lifter with dedicated time under the bar. Since his time on the diamond, he’s stepped on the platform competing in both drug-free powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting as well as strongman and Highland Games. 

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