WVU Football Announces Another Coach for Strength Staff

The WVU football program has announced another new coach with a deep connection to Rich Rodriguez. Parker Whiteman will serve as the assistant head strength coach/director of skill development.

Whiteman reunites with Rodriguez, with whom he worked at four previous stops. In 2024, he was the head strength and conditioning coach at Jacksonville State and was part of Rodriguez’s staffs at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona.

More background information on Whiteman can be found below from the WVU press release: 

Last season, the Gamecocks finished with a 9-5 record, won the Conference USA championship and earned a spot in a second straight bowl game.

Before last season, Whiteman served a five-year stint as the head of football strength and conditioning at Sam Houston, where the Bearkats were one of the most dominant programs in FCS. Prior to leading SHSU into FBS and Conference USA alongside the Gamecocks in 2023, the Bearkats produced four winning seasons, two conference titles and the FCS National Championship in 2020.

The Keyser, W.Va., native spent 11 seasons with Rodriguez, beginning prior to the 2006 season when he was hired as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at WVU. After being part of two seasons that saw the Mountaineers go 21-4 with a Big East Championship and trips to the Gator and Fiesta Bowls, Whiteman made the move to Michigan to be Rodriguez’s assistant strength and conditioning coach for three seasons.

He spent the 2011 season as a strength and conditioning coach at BARWIS Methods at Arizona before being named the Wildcats’ director of skill development in 2012. He spent the next six seasons on Rodriguez’s staff at UA, helping the Wildcats to five bowl games and a Pac-12 Division title.

Whiteman spent another brief stint at BARWIS Methods before joining the Bearkats prior to the 2019 season.

He played football at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where he earned his degree in physical education and health in 2004. He then received his master’s in exercise science from McDaniel College in 2006.

Whiteman started his career as a strength coach at Velocity Sports Performance in 2004 and spent two seasons as a strength intern/coach for the Baltimore Ravens before joining Rodriguez’s staff at WVU.

Find more coverage of the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.