Roundtable Discussion: Football
When the 2020-21 season begins, Stephanie Sharpe will begin her sixth season as the full-time assistant coach for Athletic Performance at Tarleton. In September 2019, she was promoted to the position of Assistant Director of Athletic Performance. At Tarleton, Sharpe is in charge of all strength and conditioning activities for baseball, softball, track and field, and cross country. She also assists Cole with football, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, and program administration. During the Spring of 2018, Sharpe participated with the National Football League (NFL) after being selected by the Atlanta Falcons, as the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship recipient. She traveled to Flowery Branch, GA and for the first four weeks of the Falcons’ Organized Team Activities (OTAs) she participated as the strength & conditioning intern. Sharpe was selected again for this 2018 NFL coaching fellowship and traveled to Richmond, VA in July to take part in the Washington Redskins’ first two weeks of Training Camp, also as a strength & conditioning intern. Both the Falcons and Redskins allowed her the opportunities of a lifetime, as she gained experience by observing and participating with both teams of athletes and fellow colleagues, who were pivotal in her coaching development, as she had always desired to work in the National Football League. Sharpe has been vocally thankful for the opportunity established by the NFL as well as the support from Tarleton, both of whom allowed her as a collegiate strength & conditioning coach a valued professional development opportunity. Prior to bringing her skills to the Purple and White of Tarleton, Sharpe spent seven years at NCAA Division I Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. Sharpe was the second assistant training coach for football while also working with men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field and cross country, baseball, softball, volleyball, swimming, diving, and bowling throughout her tenure. Sharpe, a native of New Orleans, LA, is SCCC certified with the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association, CSCS certified with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and is a certified Sport Performance Coach with USA Weightlifting. She received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans, served as graduate intern at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received her graduate degree in Kinesiology from Tarleton State. She is currently working toward a master’s degree in business administration at Tarleton State University.
