Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
Michael Ray, a four-year letterman at safety as a collegian at Wyoming, enters his second season as a Pitt assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Ray arrived in Pittsburgh in 2022 following four years at the University of Washington (2018-21), where he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Huskies’ football program. During his tenure, Washington captured the 2018 Pac-12 championship and advanced to the Rose Bowl. The 2019 Huskies won the Las Vegas Bowl.
From 2014-17, Ray was the lead assistant strength coach for the football program at Colorado State. The Rams advanced to a bowl game in each of Ray’s four seasons. The 2014 team won 10 games and reached as high as No. 21 in the national polls.
Ray served on the football sports performance staff at his alma mater, Wyoming, from 2011-13. As the top assistant to the Cowboys’ director of sports performance, he impacted virtually every area of the football program’s physical development regimen.
Ray spent two years working in sports performance at Arizona State (2009-10), where he elevated from a graduate assistant role to an assistant coaching post. He was responsible for the implementation of the strength and conditioning regimens for the women’s volleyball, women’s tennis and men’s golf programs. Ray additionally assisted with the speed development program for Sun Devils football in preparation for the NFL Combine and ASU Pro Day.
As a college football player himself, Ray was a four-year letterman at Wyoming from 2005-08. He was a three-time Mountain West All-Academic honoree and received induction into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s prestigious Hampshire Honor Society.
Ray is a 2009 graduate of Wyoming with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and health promotion. He earned his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Arizona State in 2011.
His certifications include Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa), Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), United States Weightlifting Association (USAW) and Precision Nutrition Certified (Pn1).
Ray and his wife, Sara, have three children: daughter Ruby and sons Jordan and Jaxon.
