ABOUT COACH FRIDAY
COACH JEFF FRIDAY
"I have a heart for developing people both on and off the field."
THE COACH
30 YEARS DEVELOPING ATHLETES AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
Jeff has built athletic development programs across the NFL and NCAA, in both men's and women's sports, for more than 30 years—long enough to watch what separates the players who last from the ones who don't.
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Twenty-one of those seasons were in the National Football League: twelve playoff runs, a Super Bowl Championship, team and individual performance records, and 40 players voted to the Pro Bowl—12 of them now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 2000, his peers voted him Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. Between NFL jobs, he also built the athletic performance program for the United Football League, and after his NFL career, did the same for the XFL.
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Before the pros, Jeff was on staff at Northwestern University when the football team won its first Big Ten title in 59 years and went on to the Rose Bowl, while the men's basketball program reached its second postseason appearance in school history—an NIT bid—and the women's program made a postseason run of its own.
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His graduate research, "A Comparison of Muscle Activity Between a Free Weight and Machine Bench Press", was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research—an early, credible contribution to a field he'd go on to shape for decades.
ABOUT COACH FRIDAY
WHERE THE WORK HAS TAKEN HIM
1990 to 1991
Graduate Assistant, Strength and Conditioning
Illinois State University
1992 to 1995
Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Northwestern University
1996 to 1998
Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Minnesota Vikings
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1999 to 2007
Head Strength and Conditioning
Baltimore Ravens
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2009
Director of Strength and Conditioning
United Football League
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2010 to 2018
Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Cincinnati Bengals
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2019 to 2020
Head Strength and Conditioning
XFL
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2021 onward
Director of Human Performance
Athletes in Action
COACH TO AUTHOR
FROM ONE CHURCH TALK TO 300 PAGES
Spring of 2003. Four years into running the Ravens weight room, Jeff was asked to speak at a Success Symposium at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland. His assignment sounded simple: tell a room of middle-aged men how to start a fitness program. He knew statistics wouldn't move them. They needed a reason.
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Digging through Scripture for that reason, one verse stopped him. Luke 2:52: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Grew in stature, physically. In wisdom, mentally. In favor with man, socially. In favor with God, spiritually. Four areas, fully and in balance. He spoke to a standing-room-only crowd.
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That talk became an article for a Baltimore business magazine, then a 2010 Fellowship of Christian Athletes session with high schoolers called Building the Total Athlete, then clinic after clinic.
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Along the way, Jeff found various encouragers who believed in his message. One helped him shape it for an audience. Another gave him a platform to share it with fellow coaches, year after year, at a clinic. A third offered support and guidance he needed to finally get his thoughts on paper. Nearly two decades after that first talk in Columbia, the book was published.
How Built 4 Winning began
ABOUT COACH FRIDAY
COACH JEFF FRIDAY
EDUCATION
Bachelor's in physical education, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Master's in exercise science, Illinois State University.
CERTIFICATION
Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, the highest credential in the field, plus numerous additional certifications.
FAMILY
A Milwaukee native, Jeff now lives outside Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Hailey and Aidan. For Jeff, leadership starts at home.
"Yes, God wanted to use Jeff Friday in the weight room. But what could God do for the world through Jeff Friday?"
THE QUESTION ATHLETES IN ACTION ASKED HIM
FAITH AND THE WORK
THE TURN THAT CHANGED THE ASSIGNMENT
Jeff did not walk into the NFL as a man of faith, yet through relationship, and the perseverance of the holy spirit working through players and coaches whom he respected highly, his spiritual journey led to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
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He began noticing that a few men carried something he did not have, and he watched their example. And he started asking questions. At the Minnesota Vikings, defensive backs coach Trent Walters invited him to the coaches' Bible study and chapel. Quarterback Randall Cunningham humorously wasn't going to do 'good repetitions' in the weight room until the strength staff read the Bible. Wide receiver Qadry Ismail invited him to his church. All of these 'hits' were adding up in his heart.
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While with the Baltimore Ravens, he hired an assistant, Chip Morton, who was a Christ-follower and a daily, up-close-and-personal example of a godly man. Morton answered all of Jeff's questions—as did kicker Matt Stover. Stover graciously gave him a study Bible to help Jeff quench his thirst for knowledge. The team chaplain pointed Jeff and his wife, Jen, toward a church in Columbia, Maryland.
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At his first visit to the church, Jeff dedicated his life to Christ. For the first time, Jeff was pursuing God instead of simply going through the motions. As his faith expanded, so too did his desire to introduce more individuals to Jesus through the total athlete concept.
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A week after his run with the Bengals ended, Jeff sat down with Athletes in Action, a Christian sports organization headquartered about thirty miles from his home. He had just lost a community he had poured a decade into. What he found was a bigger assignment.
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Built around a shared vision of developing the whole person, AIA gave Jeff a platform to workshop and sharpen the material that was in his book. He also helped the organization build its sports performance institute.
The AIA Sports Complex draws more than 230,000 visitors each year, and Jeff's daily presence in the Sports Performance Center allows him to connect with athletes and coaches in meaningful and impactful ways. Through coaching, speaking, retreats, academies, and other AIA programs, Jeff consistently engages with individuals in ways that allow him to influence, support, and invest in their growth.