Michigan promotes Justin Tress to director of strength and conditioning, retains Abigail O'Connor

Michigan has promoted Justin Tress to director of of strength and conditioning while also retaining Abigail O’Connor as director of football performance and nutrition, the school announced Monday. Tress was previously the associate director of strength and conditioning.

He is set to replace Ben Herbert, who will follow coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL and join his Los Angeles Chargers staff. Herbert worked six seasons in Ann Arbor and was widely regarded as one of the most impactful assistant coaches during that time.

Tress spent the past six seasons working under Herbert, which should help ease the coaching change. Prior to Michigan, he also spent two seasons working with Herbert at Arkansas and was a member of the Alabama strength and conditioning staff when the Crimson Tide played for a title in 2015.

He was a defensive back at Kent State, where he earned his degree in exercise science.

“I am excited that both Justin and Abigail will remain an integral part of our program,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “They have been key ingredients in our success, and we look forward to their leadership as we move forward as a program. Justin is being passed the torch by his long-time mentor, Ben Herbert, and we know Justin, the strength staff and their work with Abigail will continue to be a centerpiece of our player development. The collective and collaborative work done by our strength staff, nutrition staff and athletic training staff has been critical to the championship culture that exists in Schembechler Hall.

O’Connor worked closely with Herbert over the past six season as the director of performance nutrition and will continue in that role. To retain her is a big win for the program, despite the sting that comes from the loss of Herbert.

O’Connor previously worked with the football staffs at Houston and Minnesota before joining Michigan in 2018. She graduated with a master’s degree in nutrition sciences from Texas A&M in 2015 after receiving her undergraduate degree in biology from Southwestern University in 2013.

Although the loss of Herbert is a big one, O’Connor has belief the Michigan strength staff can continue to be among the best in the country with this group. The trio of her, Moore and Tress have been together six seasons now, with many more to come.

“I walked inside these doors of Schembechler Hall with Justin Tress and Sherrone Moore in 2018 and have worked closely with them ever since,” O’Connor said. “Fostering the development of our student-athletes is something that has always been a priority of this program and I am confident that we will continue to be elite in that area under all of our leadership.”