Shawn Griswold To Lead Virginia Football Strength & Conditioning

Shawn Griswold ~ Photo courtesy of Arizona State athletics

University of Virginia football head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced the hiring of Shawn Griswold as the program’s new director of football development and performance. Griswold will take over for the departed Frank Wintrich, who, according to a report by 247Sports, left Virginia to work at UCLA under its new football coach, Chip Kelly.

Twice a graduate of Utah State (bachelor’s and master’s), Griswold served as Arizona State football’s head coach for sports performance under head coach Todd Graham the past six seasons. Also under Graham, Griswold worked as director of strength and conditioning at Tulsa for three seasons (2008-2010) and Pittsburgh for one season (2011) before moving on to Arizona State. Graham guided Arizona State to five bowl games before being dismissed this offseason.

“Shawn will be an exceptional addition to our staff at Virginia,” Mendenhall said. “He has nearly two decades of experience helping to prepare student-athletes to be their best and to assist them in mastering their sport. That practical knowledge will be a tremendous asset for our players to maximize their abilities. His role is invaluable when you consider the amount of time he will spend with the team. His ability to build relationships with players and understand how to motivate, drive and teach them is impressive.”

“I am extremely fortunate and grateful for this opportunity to join coach Mendenhall, his staff and the incredible people at UVA,” Griswold said. “I have been fortunate and blessed to work with many great players, coaches and people in this profession. I am excited to start working with the young men at UVA and to build on the success they had last season. I can’t wait to get into the office and get our off-season program going as we build towards the future.”

Click here to read the entire VirginiaSports.com press release introducing Griswold.