Dan Austin is the assistant head strength coach at the University of South Carolina. He has been at the university since 2003, working with the football and men's soccer teams. Before joining South Carolina, he was the head strength coach at Oklahoma State University, Mississippi State University, UNLV, Tennessee State University, and Austin Peay State University. While at Oklahoma State, he was voted the Big 12 Conference's Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year.
A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Austin earned his bachelor's degree in health physical education from Newberry College and a master's degree from Austin Peay State University. He has been a strength and conditioning coach for more than 20 years.
Austin is certified by USA Weightlifting, the International Sport Sciences Association, the National Association of Speed and Explosion, and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. He is also a level II specialist in sport conditioning. He is a masters collegiate strength and conditioning coach, which is the highest certification a strength coach can achieve.
Austin has been powerlifting for 30 years and was voted into the Powerlifting Hall of Fame in 2011. Throughout his career he has won 9 world powerlifting championships and 15 national championships while holding several world records in the deadlift and combined total weight. He was voted the greatest 148-pound powerlifter of all time and was the first lifter under 148 pounds to deadlift over 700 pounds.
Bryan Mann has been involved in the sport of powerlifting since 1996. Since then, he has set numerous records as a high school, teen, and junior athlete. Throughout high school and college, Mann was a four-time national and two-time world champion in powerlifting for the Natural Athlete Strength Association and was considered among the top 20 athletes in the world for his age.
As an assistant director of strength and conditioning at the University of Missouri, Mann is responsible for assisting with the player development program for football and baseball as well as for Missouri's women's basketball and soccer teams. In addition to these team duties, he is the director of research and development. While at Southwest Missouri State, Mann worked with great athletes such as Philadelphia Phillies first baseman and league MVP Ryan Howard, Texas Rangers pitcher John Rheinecker, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum, and NCAA basketball's all-time scoring leader Jackie Stiles.
Mann received his degree in health promotion from Missouri State University in 2003, a graduate certificate in sports management in 2004, a master's degree in health education and promotion in 2006, and his PhD in 2011. Mann is recognized as a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and is certified as a strength and conditioning coach (SCCC) from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.
