Meet the Coaches: Indiana Director of Athletic Performance Derek Owings ‘A Winning Edge’
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt was one of Indiana’s most prized transfer portal recruits this offseason after being named to the All-Sun Belt first team at James Madison in 2023.
He’s excited to continue playing for head coach Curt Cignetti in offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan’s offense, which he said puts him in positions to succeed. But part of Sarratt’s decision to transfer to Indiana included a factor that typically doesn’t get mentioned.
“The strength staff is a great staff. They were a big reason,” Sarratt said. “They get your body right and all of that.”
Derek Owings is Indiana’s new director of athletic performance, and he’s one of seven assistants who followed Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana. He headed James Madison’s strength and conditioning program under Cignetti from 2020-23, when the Dukes went 38-7 with 20 All-America selections and 24 first-team all-conference picks across four seasons.
Owings played tight end and wide receiver at Mercer University and Eastern Michigan from 2012-15, worked as a graduate assistant at Utah State and then held assistant strength coach positions at Texas Tech and Central Florida.
According to documents obtained by HoosiersNow through public records requests, Owings is the sixth-highest paid member of Indiana’s coaching staff, behind Cignetti, defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, offensive line coach Bob Bostad and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri. Cignetti was quick to call Owings “the best strength and conditioning coach in America.”
“I think he's a big part of what we do,” Cignetti said. “That's why I do everything I can to keep him on the roster, pay him as well as I can, because he makes a difference. Fast and physical. It starts down in that weight room with the body development of each and every guy. He's a winning edge.”
Though they don't call plays on game days, strength coaches are particularly important in today’s college football. They have a hands-on role with players throughout the year, from in-season training to winter, spring and summer workouts. The investment in Owings speaks to that, and Indiana announced plans last July to renovate a football-only weight room inside Memorial Stadium.
Cignetti, who’s been a head coach since 2011 and on college coaching staffs since 1983, said strength and conditioning has changed a lot through the years and become more scientific. Owings holds several certifications, including CSCS-NSCA, USAW-Level 1, Running Mechanics Professional Level 1 and 2, Metabolic Analytics Practitioner, FRCms, Precision Nutrition Level 1, Body Type Nutrition, CPR and AED - ARC.
“I think he's on the cutting edge, gets great results,” Cignetti said. “...He changes their bodies. He'll cut a lot of body fat, still add lean muscle mass, quicker, stronger, faster, more explosive.”
Owings said the on-field demands of each position require specific training, but in general he’s trying to build the fastest, most violent team in America. When he first started working with Indiana’s roster in the winter, Owings wanted to take things slow and not rush building the foundation. Early on, he focused on technique and weight room expectations.
Owings is thankful for the resources available at Indiana that aid his strength and conditioning program. In the weight room, a program called Perch uses cameras to track workouts and provide data that helps Indiana maximize training sessions. NordBord tests players’ hamstring strength, and if one is stronger than the other, the chance of injury is higher. Owings uses that data to help keep players safe.
On the field, Indiana uses Catapult, a software that records players’ performance during practice and games. Owings said he uses it to track total volume, accelerations, decelerations, high-speed distance and more, and he wants players to hit 90% speed in practice and games. It also helps manage workloads for starters during the season, while also making sure backups are working hard and not “getting de-trained” during the season.
Indiana will train speed twice a week – one day for top-end speed and the other for acceleration – using lasers and track progress over months and years. His biggest focus in the winter is building size, strength and robustness, but speed will always remain part of the routine because he believes it’s the fastest thing lost while training.
Over the last few seasons at James Madison, Owings is most proud that players got faster during the season and typically hit their personal records in October and November. His focus on speed correlates with Cignetti’s belief in shorter, up-tempo practices.
“If you're not running with at least 90 percent, at least that’s the kind of number I like, every five to seven days, it’s proven in science we’re getting slower,” Owings said in an interview with Rhett Lewis. “So if you train slow, you’re going to play slow. I think that’s what coach Cig does a great job of. We practice fast, maybe a little bit shorter, but it’s quick, it’s uptempo, it’s fast and our guys get faster in season.”
Owings also covers recovery and nutrition, which he believes can get overlooked. He believes it’s important to track what players are eating and when, as well as how Indiana can help them from a supplementation, hydration and sleep standpoint. Each player is different, and Owings said it’s key to find out what’s best for each individual so they can perform their best on game day.
Moving forward, Owings and the Hoosiers enter a crucial portion of the year as they approach the 2024 season. Cignetti puts a lot of trust in Owings, saying, “the offseason is his baby,” specifically in the winter and summer months.
“I have 100% confidence in him,” Cignetti said. “I don't mess with him. That's his area. I let him go. I know the players really like what we're doing down there.”
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JACK ANKONY
Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.