UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State football head coach Bill O'Brien has announced the addition of Dwight Galt IV, Sean Hayes and Steven Williams, Jr. to complete the Nittany Lions' strength and conditioning staff.
The trio will serve as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coaches for Football under the direction of Craig Fitzgerald, who last month was named Penn State's Director of Strength and Conditioning for Football. A Philadelphia native, Fitzgerald had served the past three years as Director of Football Strength and Conditioning at the University of South Carolina.
O'Brien selected eight assistant coaches less than one week after being introduced as the Nittany Lions' 15th head football coach on Jan. 6. He is in the process of determining the Nittany Lions' final assistant coach, who will be on offense.
Galt was a member of Fitzgerald's staff at South Carolina since January 2010, serving initially as a graduate assistant (Aug.-Dec. 2010) and then as an assistant strength and conditioning coach (Jan. 2011-Jan. 2012). Prior to South Carolina, he was a strength and conditioning intern under his father, Dwight Galt III, at the University of Maryland, assisting with the football, lacrosse, and baseball teams. Dwight Galt III is Vanderbilt's Football Strength and Conditioning Director. A native of Silver Spring, Md., Galt IV was a defensive lineman at Maryland from 2005-09. He started every game in 2009 at defensive end, leading all Terrapins defensive linemen with 4.5 sacks. He was a "Tough Terp" annual award recipient four times from 2005-09.
A native of Merritt Island, Fla., Hayes joins the Penn State staff after serving as a graduate assistant football and strength and conditioning coach at Jacksonville University since July 2010. At Jacksonville, he was the varsity outside linebackers coach and junior varsity defensive coordinator in addition to assisting with strength and conditioning program. Like Williams, Hayes is a Harvard University graduate (2009) and played linebacker on the Crimson football team. As a senior, he garnered second team All-Ivy League recognition. In the first six months of 2010, Hayes was a player/coach for the L'Hospitalet Pioneers of the European Football League, helping the team win the Spanish national championship (LNFA) and a top 10 ranking among all European teams.
Williams also joins the Nittany Lions from South Carolina, where he served as a graduate assistant with the strength and conditioning program since January 2011. He worked with the football, track, and soccer teams and was a graduate assistant with the Gamecocks' football team, helping coach defensive backs and special teams. Williams participated in the Detroit Lions' mini-camp and was a teacher and assistant football coach at Wagner (Texas) High School for two years following his 2008 graduation from Harvard University. He was a record-setting cornerback at Harvard from 2004-07, earning first team AFCA All-America honors. He holds the Crimson's single season (8) and career (16) interception marks and recorded 15 pass break-ups as a senior. Williams was class valedictorian at William Howard Taft High School in San Antonio, Texas.
The Nittany Lions shared the 2011 Big Ten Leaders Division title with Wisconsin and played in their fourth consecutive New Year's bowl game and 44th bowl overall. The Nittany Lions' 827 all-time victories rank No. 5 in the nation and their 27 bowl wins are third-highest nationally.
Penn State opens its 126th season on Sept. 1. The Nittany Lions will host Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern (Oct. 6-Homecoming), Indiana, Navy, Temple and Ohio University in Beaver Stadium this fall. For season ticket information, fans should call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The pricing of Penn State football game tickets and accompanying donation levels is the same as in 2011.