NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Episode 34: Megan Evans

Megan Evans, Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Virginia Tech, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the journey from student-athlete to assistant director. 

Megan Evans, MEd, PhD, CSCS is in her eighth year as Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Virginia Tech. Her team responsibilities are Women's Soccer, Women's Lacrosse, Softball, Women's Tennis, and Men's and Women's Diving. Prior to her hiring in 2009 she worked as a graduate assistant under Coach Mike Gentry and Terry Mitchell for four years. She earned her Master's Degree in 2007 and PhD in 2014. Megan was a softball player at Virginia Tech from 2002 - 2005 and still holds numerous season and career records. She was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.

Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield

Show Notes

"Evaluate everything that you do, have purpose for it, and if it fits your system, great, but don’t be so wrapped up in, ‘oh, I have to use this technology to use this technology.’” (Discussing Michael Gentry’s philosophy on technology) 6:05

“[Student-athletes] are specializing so much younger now that we’re having to go back and teach basic fundamental movements of the body and re-teach it that we didn’t have to do before.” 13:09

“The content here (Coaches Conference) is obviously far more pinpointed on what we want. We don’t have to hunt through the different speakers and say, ‘hey, this is the one I want to go to.’ It’s a little more clear.” 14:49

“You’re getting a lot more conversation and intimacy within the networking end of things.” (Talking about Coaches Conference) 15:17

“For me, it’s about connecting to the student-athlete and helping them not only develop as an athlete, but to develop as people. These are very moldable, young people at 18 to 22 years old.” 16:46

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care and if you’re treating these young people as people first and then athletes, that’s when you’re going to reach them.” 17:20

“My goal for when [athletes] leave is, ‘did they learn something from me?’” 18:12

Advice to newcomers in the field: “Don’t give up.” 22:44