The Phoenix Suns have named Jeff Fish as director of performance and head strength and conditioning coach. Fish brings to the Suns’ athletic training staff over 25 years of experience as a performance director and strength and conditioning coach in professional and collegiate sports.
In his role, he will be responsible for strength and conditioning, player performance, nutrition and applied sports science, and will work closely with Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Aaron Nelson and his staff on injury prevention, rehabilitation and rest/recovery.
Fish joins the Suns after most recently operating his own Atlanta-based performance training company, Jeff Fish Performance, and has also served as a performance consultant with the Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders. Prior to that, Fish spent five years (2008-13) as director of athletic performance with the Atlanta Falcons, the first person to hold that title for any NFL team, as the Falcons had the winningest five-season stretch in franchise history, winning two NFC South division titles and making four playoff appearances. During his time with the Falcons, Fish began the implementation of movement efficiency assessments at the NFL Combine.
In addition to the Falcons, Fish holds NFL experience of four seasons as head strength and conditioning coach with the Oakland Raiders (2004-07) and three seasons as assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Kansas City Chiefs (1998-2000). Fish has also held positions with Division I collegiate programs, serving as director of strength and conditioning at the University of Missouri (2001-04), head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Tulsa (1995-98) and Kent State University (1993-95), and strength and conditioning assistant at Clemson University (1991-93).
A graduate of Western Carolina University where he was a wide receiver on the football team, Fish also holds a Master’s in Physical Education and Exercise Science from Western Michigan University where he was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. The Ithaca, New York native is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), certified strength and conditioning coach (SCCC) and licensed massage therapist (LMT).
He and his wife, Rachel, have two daughters, Whitney (11) and Sofie (8).