The Jets announced five hires for their new athletic care and performance department on Thursday.
Dr. Brad DeWeese will be the head of the department. Mike Nicolini will be the head strength and conditioning coach, while Dr. Matt Simms will be the director of sports science. Dr. Robert Sausaman will be the assistant director of high performance and Dr. Omar Ahmad will be the assistant strength and conditioning coach.
The department will include New York’s athletic trainers, strength & conditioning and nutrition staffs, and rehab department.
“After a thorough review of our sports performance areas, it became clear that in order to maximize our player’s health, safety and effectiveness on the field, we needed to establish a centralized group that would better position our team for success,” Jets GM Joe Douglas said in a statement. “During our search for the right person to lead this group, Dr. Brad DeWeese impressed us, not only with his proven track record but also with his vision, insight, and strategic approach to maximize athletic care and performance.”
DeWesee most recently worked at East Tennessee State as the assistant athletic director for sports performance. He was also the head of sports psychology for the United States Olympic Committee’s Winter Division.
Nicolini spent the last three seasons with Robert Saleh in San Francisco as the assistant strength & conditioning coach. Before joining the 49ers in 2018, Nicolini was the lead athletic performance coach at San Jose State. He began as a volunteer in 2011 before being named a strength & conditioning graduate assistant in 2012. Nicolini then was the assistant athletic performance coach from 2013-2014.
Simms previously served as a performance science analyst for the Kansas City Royals.
Sausaman spent the last two seasons as the director of applied performance at Missouri. Before that, he was the director of sports science/performance with East Tennessee State’s women’s soccer team for three years. He also was a strength and conditioning associate with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015.
Ahmad has been the assistant director of athletics and sports performance at Richard Bland College. Previously, he was the assistant director of athletic performance at the University of Missouri.