Michigan State Announces Changes in Sports Medicine and Performance Department

Michigan State Announces Changes in Sports Medicine and Performance Department

Monroe retires; Kovan appointed; Nogle, Carrier and Halliday promoted; Jager hired.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State Athletics Director Mark Hollis announced changes on Friday, July 26 to the newly renamed Sports Medicine and Performance department. The division will now include athletic training and strength & conditioning, in addition to sports nutrition, sport psychology and counseling.

Within the Sports Medicine and Performance department, Hollis also announced personnel changes. After 27 years at MSU, Assistant Athletic Director/Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Monroe retired. Dr. Jeff Kovan was appointed director of Sports Medicine and Performance, Dr. Sally Nogle was appointed to head athletic trainer and Dave Carrier was named to associate head athletic trainer. Also, former intern Salina Halliday was hired full-time as an athletic trainer. David Jager was added to the staff as the second athletic trainer for football.

“At MSU, we strive to provide our student-athletes with the highest quality health care possible,” said Hollis. “I would like to thank Jeff Monroe for his service to MSU and for providing leadership to an athletic training unit that has been able to adjust to an ever changing medical landscape.

“What this new division will provide is a more streamlined approach to our sports medicine services. I would like to thank Jim Pignataro for his leadership and vision. Jim has pulled together many moving parts, and has consulted with medical professionals to design, what we feel, is one of the most comprehensive Sports Medicine and Performance divisions in the country.

“I have the utmost confidence in Dr. Kovan and Dr. Nogle. Sally has been, and will continue to be, a pillar in the athletic training community and we are fortunate to have someone with her expertise to lead our athletic training services.”

The new Sports Medicine and Performance department will report directly to Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services Jim Pignataro.

“For the past six years I have had the pleasure of working alongside Jeff Monroe, and watching him lead an athletic training staff that has been nationally recognized for the elite care they provide to our student-athletes,” said Pignataro. “We have a responsibility to our student-athletes to make sure their care is a priority. Their wellness, whether it be academically, personally, or medically, is a top priority for our entire staff.

“The world of intercollegiate athletics is extremely complex and as too is the sports medicine area. Our medical service array is as complete and thorough as there is in the country, and I’m thrilled for both Dr. Kovan and Dr. Nogle as they both have the right skills to guide us in this new structure”.

Monroe had served as the head staff athletic trainer for MSU since August 1985, and was promoted to an

assistant athletic director in 2000. He handled the year-round athletic training for Spartan football.

Kovan has served as MSU’s director of primary care sports medicine and head team physician since 1996. In addition with his new title, he will provide leadership and evaluation to all aspects of the Sports Medicine and Performance department, act as the liaison to the MSU Health Team and the Big Ten Conference, handle the medical insurance and billing, and oversee the athletic department’s drug and alcohol testing and evaluation.

Nogle will now act as the head athletic trainer for Spartan football, along with managing and evaluating the day-to-day operations of the athletic training facilities and staff. She has served as a member of the MSU Athletic Training staff since October 1983, previously as the associate head athletic trainer for football, and the athletic trainer for men’s and women’s tennis and field hockey.

Carrier has been a member of the Michigan State athletic training staff since 1984, currently the athletic trainer for the Spartan hockey program.

Halliday, who will be the full-time athletic trainer for softball and other Olympic sports, has been an intern in the MSU athletic training department since the fall of 2011. Last season, she was Spartan men’s soccer’s athletic trainer. Halliday is currently completing her graduate degree thesis at the Eastern Michigan University and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in 2009.

Jager joins the Michigan State staff after spending the last year as assistant athletic trainer for football at the University of Miami. Prior to joining the Hurricanes, he was the associate athletic trainer for football at Eastern Illinois University from 2010-12, the director of athletic training services at Radford University from 2008-10 and the head athletic trainer at Ferrum College from 2005-08. Jager graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s in movement science with an emphasis in athletic training, and earned his master’s in education, health, and physical education from Virginia Tech University in 2005