Zach Rockford originally joined SIUE athletic performance in July 2017 and was elevated to the Director of Athletic Performance in July 2020.
Rockford oversees the athletic performance staff, works with volleyball, baseball and wrestling as well as coordinates the internship program, and manages the scheduling and budget.
Prior to coming to SIUE, Rockford served as a volunteer intern at the University of Arizona. He assisted with the implementation of the strength and conditioning program for baseball, men’s tennis, women’s golf and football.
A native of Springfield, Illinois, Rockford earned a double major in exercise science and human performance and fitness at Saint Ambrose University in 2014. He was a three-year letter winner and a two-year starter for Saint Ambrose in football.
He moved on to the University of The Incarnate Word, where he served as a strength and conditioning graduate assistant. He had direct oversight over more than 90 student-athletes for program development and implementation of training for baseball, women’s tennis, men’s tennis, men’s pole vaulters, women’s pole vaulters and men’s soccer.
At Incarnate Word, he also assisted in all training aspects for volleyball, track and field, men’s swimming and women’s swimming. He was responsible for student-athlete food supplementation and the monthly athlete education newsletter.
He completed a master’s degree in kinesiology and business at Incarnate Word in 2016.
Rockford also worked as a volunteer intern at the University of Texas San Antonio in the summer of 2016 and Texas Christian University in the summer of 2014.
He is Strength Coach Collegiate Certified, a Sports Performance Coach Level 1 and a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.
