FootballScoop is proud to announce that Joe Connolly (Arizona State) is the 2024 FootballScoop Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
The pundits picked Arizona State to finish 16th of 16 in the new-look Big 12 in 2024. The pundits were dead wrong.
Coming off a 3-9 debut under first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham, the Sun Devils were among the biggest surprises in a season full of them, bulldozing their way to a Big 12 championship and coming one play short of reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals.
The driving force for Arizona State's out-of-nowhere success was the emergence of All-American running back Cam Skattebo, and the reason for Skattebo's success, according to Skattebo, was Connolly.
“Our strength coach, Joe Connolly, he’s been great for me over the last year and a half,” Skattebo said before the season. “When coach Joe brought to my attention that I needed to get faster, that’s kind of something that I focused on. I didn’t really know how to run properly,” he said. “I run very tense. The thing is to run more relaxed when I run. It comes more natural (now).”
Behind a renewed approach to fitness and training, a slimmer Skattebo rushed for nearly 1,000 more yards and a dozen more touchdowns in 2024, and transformed Arizona State's season in the process.
A stronger and fitter Sun Devils squad went 6-2 in one-score games in 2024, a massive improvement from a 1-3 mark in similar games in 2023.
Connolly's approach didn't just maximize Skattebo, a Sacramento State transfer. He made a roster full of players who started their careers elsewhere into better versions of themselves.
“He pushes you past the limits that you could think you would ever be pushed,” offensive lineman Bram Walden said over the summer. “He helps you reach a place in your mind where you never thought you’d be able to reach until you got here You know, I came from Oregon and I’ve never been pushed like this before, and I’ve done nothing but climb.”
“This is the most athletic I’ve ever been before,” added wide receiver Xavier Guillory, an Idaho State transfer. "I never ran as fast, pushed as much weight. [And] mentally, I’ve just been growing every single day.”
The end result was a season that impressed the nation, brought home a conference championship trophy, and potentially transformed the trajectory of Arizona State football for seasons to come.
"Joe is one of the best strength coaches in the business," head coach Dillingham told FootballScoop. "Not only is he a great motivator and person, but his strength and conditioning program is based off of great blend of science and sweat. It pushes guys to become the best version of themselves on and off the field. Joe is an instrumental piece of our culture."
A University of Hartford graduate, Connolly graduated magna cum laude with a Master of Science in physical education with a concentration in strength and conditioning from Bridgewater State in 2007. His professional career began at Harvard, with future stops at South Carolina, Louisville and UMass. He has been Arizona State's head football strength and conditioning coach since 2018.
Prior winners selected this year's winner. In a tied vote among prior winners, Connolly and Texas's Torre Becton were both named winners of the 2024 award. Boise State's Ben Hilgart was also a finalist this year.
Previous winners of the Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year award are Don Sommer (TCU, 2008), Joey Batson (Clemson, 2009), Kevin Yoxall (Auburn, 2010), Shannon Turley (Stanford, 2011), Kaz Kazadi (Baylor, 2012), Pat Ivey (Missouri, 2013), Zac Woodfin (UAB, 2014), Ken Mannie (Michigan State, 2015), Tim Socha (Washington, 2016), Zach Duval (UCF, 2017), Lew Caralla (Buffalo, 2018), Tommy Moffitt (LSU, 2019), Chad Scott (Coastal Carolina, 2020), Scott Sinclair (Georgia, 2021) Kurt Hester (Tulane, 2022), and Dave Feeley (Duke, 2023).
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