Head S&C Coach for Olympic Sports
Russell Barbarino is in his ninth year as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports at the University of Michigan. During his time at Michigan, Barbarino has helped the Men's Gymnastics Team to four BIG TEN Conference Regular Season Championships including 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2019 and three consecutive BIG TEN Tournament titles 2023-2021. The Men's Gymnastics team had its highest finish since 2014 in 2023 as they were NCAA Runner's Up and finished #2 nationally.
Barbarino has also helped the Men's Swimming & Diving Team capture back-to-back BIG TEN Conference Championships in 2021 and 2020. He also help guide the 2021 Women's Swimming & Diving Team capture three individual NCAA Championships in the 200-yard Fly, 100-yard Fly, and 100-yard Freestyle events. The 2022, 2021 & 2019 Cheer Team was crowned Division IA Intermediate Coed and Game Day National Champions.
Additionally he has helped guide the Women's Basketball Program to its best season in school history including a record number of wins, highest finish in the Big Ten Conference, and its first ever postseason championship in 2016-2017 as the Wolverines captured the Women's National Invitation Basketball Tournament (WNIT) Championship. He also helped the Field Hockey team to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2015 and 2016 including an Elite-8 showing and #5 final national ranking in 2015. Barbarino has also assisted with the training of the Wrestling, Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, Water Polo and Track & Field / Cross Country Teams along with several other Olympic Sports programs.
In May 2016, Barbarino was awarded the distinction of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, which is considered the highest honor that can be achieved by a strength and conditioning coach, recognizing professionalism, knowledge, experience, expertise and longevity in the field.
Prior to Michigan, Barbarino spent five years as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Florida A&M University. He was responsible for the supervision of more than 300 student-athletes from FAMU's 18-intercollegiate athletics teams and coordinating all strength and conditioning programs including the direct supervision of three full-time assistants. During his time there the football team won the 2010 MEAC Conference Football Championship. He also trained two NFL Draft selections and nine players selected to free agent NFL professional contracts during his time there. Additionally he trained the 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 MEAC Conference South Division Volleyball Champions who were 38-2 in MEAC conference play and 44-6 including MEAC Tournament play from 2011-2014.
Prior to FAMU, he was a successful business owner and nationally certified fitness and athletic performance specialist in Tallahassee and surrounding areas, including owning and operating two 5,000 plus square foot sports performance/fitness centers including: Anytime Fitness of Tallahassee- Mahan Drive and Anytime Fitness of Crawfordville, Florida.
Barbarino previously served as the director of strength and conditioning at Tulane University in New Orleans, La. from 2005-2006. Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, he relocated to College Station, Texas and set up a training schedule in conjunction with Texas A&M University officials. He coordinated strength and conditioning programs for all Tulane's 16 men's and women's division I varsity sports programs, which were located at 4 different universities including: Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech, and Southern Methodist. Also, he worked together on a daily basis with the Texas A&M strength & conditioning staff assisting with the training of the Texas A&M football, Men's Basketball Team and several Olympic sports programs.
Prior to Tulane, Barbarino served as the director of strength and conditioning at the University of Delaware from 1999-2005. While at Delaware, the football team garnered it's best season in school history amassing a 15-1 record and winning the 2003 NCAA IAA (FCS) National Championship while also capturing the 2000, 2003, and 2004 Atlantic-10 Conference Football Championships. On their way to winning the 2003 national championship Delaware outscored its play-off opponents 149-23 including a 40-0 victory in the championship game which are all current FCS records.
Prior to his stint at Delaware, Barbarino served as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach at Florida State University from 1995- 1999. While Barbarino was at Florida State, they won the 1999 NCAA FBS National Football Championship, had two national runner- up finishes 1998 and 1996, and won five Atlantic Coast Conference football titles. Barbarino also worked with the women's basketball, men's tennis and men's swimming and diving team, which had five Olympians and thee individual NCAA national champions during his time there.
Barbarino assisted with the development of 11 first round NFL draft picks, and 38 athletes drafted or signed to free-agent contracts by NFL professional teams. Barbarino is no stranger himself to the iron game. As a competitive powerlifter, he has become a two-time world, four-time national, and nine- time state powerlifting champion who has held world and national records in both the bench press and deadlift while competing in the WNPF, ADFPA, WPA, and APA organizations.
Barbarino also has experience working as a volunteer/intern with the following NFL professional organizations including: New Orleans Saints (2005), Baltimore Ravens (2004), and the Philadelphia Eagles (2002).
In 2016, Barbarino was also awarded with the recognition of Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach with Distinction by the NSCA. The NSCA awards the level of (RSCC*D) to experienced coaches who practically apply foundational knowledge to assess, motivate, educate and train athletes for the primary goal of improving sport performance for a minimum of 10 years. Barbarino is also Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He is also a member of the U.S. Weightlifting Federation (USWF) as a coach. He was also a finalist for the NSCA Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Professional of the year award six consecutive years, including 2001-2006.
A former football letter winner at Kean University in New Jersey, Barbarino earned a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from the school in 1995 and added a master's degree in Athletic Administration from Florida State in 1997. He and late wife, the former Jennifer Engelbrecht who tragically passed away in May of 2022, have three boys named Kyle, Bryce and Ryan.
