Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
In the summer of 2019, Eric Overland was named the head strength and conditioning coach at Concordia-St. Paul.
Overland joins the CSP staff after spending the last three years as the assistant strength & conditioning coach at Wayne State University.
Prior to his time at WSU, Overland served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Liberty University during the 2015-16 academic year and previously was the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas for four seasons.
During his time with the Wildcats which started in July 2011, Overland oversaw all aspects of strength and conditioning for each of Abilene Christian’s 16 NCAA Division I athletics programs.
Overland worked closely with Abilene Christian’s athletic training staff and athletics department physicians in the areas of pre and rehabilitation purposes.
He was in the process of helping to design and renovate Abilene Christian’s Powell Fitness Center, a 9,000-square foot workout center.
In his role at Liberty, Overland played a part in helping to design Liberty’s new Athletics Performance Center (APC). Nearly a third of the 60,000-square foot facility will house a new centralized weight room for Liberty’s Olympic sport student-athletes.
Prior to his position at Abilene Christian, Overland served as the Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at Winona State during the 2010-11 athletics season.
While working at his alma mater, Overland directed an internship program where he helped place future professionals in roles at local high schools. He also served as an adjunct professor in advanced strength and conditioning courses.
Overland began his career in collegiate athletics at the University of Notre Dame where he started as a volunteer strength and conditioning intern. Following a one-year paid internship with the Fighting Irish, Overland spent his next two years (2008-10) as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, working with the men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball and cheerleading programs.
During his time at Notre Dame, Overland also worked with the Fighting Irish football program for three seasons. Responsible for overseeing technology for the strength and conditioning program, Overland kept track of the team’s polar heart rate, while instructing players and coaches on how to use polar heart monitors.
Overland also instructed Notre Dame student-athletes with the help of Dartfish video analysis, insuring proper execution of workout techniques. In his final six months with the Fighting Irish, Overland worked with the softball, fencing and track & field programs.
Prior to entering the collegiate strength and condition profession, Overland worked three years with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as the organization’s Southeast Minnesota Area Director.
Overland is a 2002 graduate of Winona State in Winona, Minn., where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He was a four-year member of the Warriors’ football team as a defensive end (1998-01).
He completed his Master of Science degree from Winona State in Sport Management in May of 2015.
Overland is a certified strength and conditioning coach with the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). He is also certified as a Sport Performance Coach with United States of America Weightlifting.
Overland, who is a native of Waseca, Minn., and his wife, Marcia, have five children — Abigail, Micah, Caitlyn, Jessica and Caleb.
