Dueling Football Coaches: Motivating the Masses
Since his hiring in December, head coach Dan Mullen has often referred to Matt Balis as the most important part of his program. He is in his 3rd year at Mississippi State.Balis came to Starkville from the University of Virginia, where he served two years as the strength and conditioning coach for the Cavaliers football program.Prior to his stint in Charlottesville, Balis previously served as the assistant director of strength and conditioning at Florida in 2005 and 2006. The Florida football team completed the 2006 season with a 13-1 record and won the Southeastern Conference Championship and the BCS National Championship.Before joining the staff at Florida, Balis worked 6 months as assistant director and 1 year as director of strength and conditioning for the entire 16-sport program in 2004. Balis was directly in charge of designing and implementing strength and conditioning programs for football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and volleyball. The football team completed the 2004 season with an overall record of 12-0 and won the Fiesta Bowl. Balis was also an assistant strength coach at Houston for two years and before moving to the college level, he was an assistant football coach and worked in the area of strength and conditioning at Wheaton (Ill.) Warrenville South High School for two years and at Wheaton (Ill.) North High School for three years. He also taught physical education at the elementary school level during that five-year period. Balis earned a bachelor's degree in education from Northern Illinois University in 1996 and a master's degree in educational leadership and administration from Aurora University in 2001. Balis is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCC), and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, and a certified strength and conditioning coach.
