Buies Creek – Jim Malone, who brings three decades of experience on the professional and collegiate level, has been named Assistant Athletic Director for Physical Development/Strength and Conditioning at Campbell University, Director of Athletics Bob Roller announced today.
Malone, while working for the San Diego Padres, was named the Major League Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2012 by Nolan Ryan/Hammer Strength program. Along with being the coach for the Padres, Malone also worked for the New York Mets and Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. His most recent position prior to joining Campbell was athletic development coordinator for the MLB St. Louis Cardinals minor league affiliates and Latin American program.
“We were extremely fortunate to find someone with Jim Malone’s resume to lead our strength and conditioning program,” said Campbell University Director of Athletics Bob Roller. “He has decades of professional experience that perfectly matches our need to grow this vital area of our athletics department.”
Malone, who also is a competitive weightlifter, winning gold in his age division at the 2016 USAW Masters National Championships, replaces Andrew Carter, who is moving into a new position on the Campbell staff as the Assistant Athletic Director for Health and Nutrition. Carter has overseen the Camels’ strength and conditioning program for the last nine seasons.
An All-American defensive tackle at the University of Rochester, Malone will oversee the strength and conditioning program for Campbell’s 21 NCAA Division I varsity sports with specific responsibilities with the football, baseball and lacrosse teams.
“I’ve had the opportunity to have been around some tremendous athletes in baseball, and especially blessed for my 10 years in the Major Leagues,” said Malone. “There’s just something special about being able to work with 18 to 22 year olds, and having the opportunity to grow young men and women. It goes beyond the game. It’s about how you invest yourself in the commitment and invest yourself in the process. You can’t be outcome driven, you have to be process driven because you have to take one play and one day at a time. That’s just like the weight room, where you have to take one rep at a time and progress to that end game. If you’re too focused on the end, you’re not going to be focused on the task at hand. That holds true with academics and it holds true when you get in the real world.”
Malone also has served on the football staffs at Columbia and Princeton in addition to his alma mater. He was also head wrestling coach, assistant football coach and head strength & conditioning coach at Albright College.
Ma member of the National Strength & Conditioning Association and Professional Baseball Strength & Conditioning Coaches Society, Malone left Columbia in 1997 to accept a minor league strength & conditioning coaching position with the Cleveland Indians. After serving in a similar role for the Kansas City Royals, Malone was named Major League strength & conditioning coach for the first of two stints with the New York Mets in 2001.
