DEMOREST, Ga. - Piedmont athletics has announced the hiring of John Delf-Montgomery as Head Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, marking Piedmont's first strength and conditioning hire. Delf-Montgomery joins the Piedmont staff after spending time in the private sector as Director of Sports Performance for High Performance Company in Springfield, Illinois.
"I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of bringing strength and conditioning to Piedmont University," Delf-Montgomery said. "What I love about this opportunity is that the student-athletes at Piedmont want to be involved with strength and conditioning and they value the added benefit. I am blessed to also work alongside such great coaches and even better people."
"Being able to add a strength and conditioning professional is a giant step forward for our athletic department," Assistant AD of Sports Performance and Athletic Training Dr. Matt McKinney said. "Not only do we expect to increase athletic performance but we should be able to have healthier student-athletes. This will allow us to foster a sense of overall well-being that we hope stays with each one of our student-athletes for a lifetime."
As the Director of Sports Performance at High Performance Company, Delf-Montgomery worked with clients while developing, implementing and supervising all programming. He was also charged with educating new coaches in the industry as the Internship Coordinator and managed the business from an operations standpoint.
During his stint in Illinois, Delf-Montgomery served as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach/Interim Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Illinois-Springfield from January 2019 through September 2020. He worked specifically with women's basketball, men's soccer, volleyball, golf and the track and field throwers. The men's soccer team reached the GLVC conference tournament in back-to-back seasons and women's golf earned an NCAA Super Regional appearance along with a representative in the NCAA National Championship.
"John came highly recommended to us. He was impressive through the entire interview process and we are happy to have him join the Piedmont family," Dr. McKinney stated. "His varied experience in the sports performance arena is great and the fact that he was a Division III student-athlete will be great for our department."
Delf-Montgomery was able to gain valuable experience during his time at Berry College as a student worker in the athletic weight room where he was in charge of programming, nutrition and implementation for several teams including men's and women's basketball, men's lacrosse, golf and football.
Delf-Montgomery earned his bachelor of science in kinesiology from Berry College in 2018 and his master of arts in education from the University of Illinois-Springfield in 2020. He was also a member of the football team at Berry from 2014-18 and the men's basketball team in 2017-18.
He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
