Year in College Athletics: 12th
Year at Arizona: Second
Brett Gerch is in his second season with Arizona football’s strength and conditioning staff. He arrived in Tucson in March 2014 after serving as the head football strength coach at Army (2009-13).
After working for head coach Rich Ellerson at Cal Poly from 2007-09, Gerch joined Ellerson, who served as Arizona’s defensive coordinator from 1992-95 and 1997-2000, at West Point.
In his two years at Cal Poly, Gerch was responsible for designing and implementing the strength and conditioning program for Ellerson's football team and all 20 of the Mustangs' varsity programs.
Prior to his tenure in San Luis Obispo, Gerch worked for one year on the strength and conditioning staff at the University of Delaware, where he assisted with the football team and oversaw the strength and speed programs for the Blue Hens' tennis, softball, soccer, rowing and track and field teams.
Gerch worked outside of intercollegiate athletics for four years prior to joining the Delaware staff. From 2003-06, he was the head sports performance coach at Velocity Sports Performance in Baltimore, Md. He trained professional, college and high school athletes in various sports with an emphasis on weight lifting, agility and speed development. During his time in Baltimore, Gerch also served as a part-time assistant strength coach with the Baltimore Ravens.
The 2000 graduate of Appalachian State also boasts experience on the campuses of the University of Richmond (2002-03), Western Carolina (2001-02) and the University of North Carolina (2000-01). He has designed workout programs for a variety of sports, including soccer, field hockey, swimming and diving, golf, gymnastics and softball.
Gerch spent the summer of 1999 as a strength and conditioning intern with the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. While in Lake Placid, he trained athletes from winter Olympic sports and emphasized weight lifting, stability, plyometrics and speed.
Gerch began his undergraduate education at Oregon State, serving as a student assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Beavers' football and basketball programs. He continued in that role after transferring to Appalachian State, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in exercise science.
A certified strength and conditioning specialist and a certified member of USA Weightlifting, Gerch earned a master's degree in physical education from Western Carolina in 2002.
