Assistant
Rick Perry was hired in January 2010 as Central Michigan's Director of Strength and Conditioning. In this capacity, Perry coordinates the strength and conditioning efforts for all 16 CMU varsity athletic programs while having direct oversight of the football program, which won 5 of its last 6 games this past season, including the Little Caesars Bowl. He also directs the CMU volleyball program, which in 2011 claimed its first ever MAC tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Prior to CMU, Perry was a part of the strength and conditioning staff at Notre Dame working under Master Strength and Conditioning Coach Ruben Mendoza. He assisted the Fighting Irish football program that went to the 2006 BCS Sugar Bowl and 2008 Hawaii Bowl. Perry also worked with baseball, men's soccer, and men's lacrosse.
Before Notre Dame, Perry spent seven years as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Missouri State University, where he coordinated programs for 21 varsity sports. During that time, Missouri State teams claimed many conference championships, and competed in NCAA tournaments, a Final Four, a College World Series, as well as a WNIT championship. Perry also spent two years as a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas, working under Fred Roll, where he assisted with the football program and oversaw the KU baseball team.
Perry also has experience as a football coach, having worked with the defensive line at Idaho State in 1995, and as the Defensive Line Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach at Buena Vista University in 1994. He served as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Missouri State, in 1993, working under Kirk Woolfolk.
Perry attended Missouri State where he was a student-athlete and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1995. He then went on to receive a Master of Science in Education with a specialization in Sport Administration and Nutrition from the University of Kansas in 1998.
He is certified by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
A Kansas native, Rick and his wife, Lori, are the parents of two daughters.
