Earlier this semester, Bowdoin hired Neil Willey as its new head coach of strength and conditioning coach. A student of the College’s most recent coach, Jim St. Pierre while at the University of Maine, he comes from the University of Arizona to replace his former mentor.
“It’s been kind of a whirl-wind,” Willey said. “My whole career was in one spot, Arizona. I started a family and we had our house and everything. Right now there are a lot of things I’m just trying to wrap my head around and trying to get the teams going and prepared.”
Willey comes to Bowdoin after working at Arizona for 15 years. He most recently served as the Director of Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning, training five teams: baseball, softball, swimming, diving and gymnastics.
“It’s definitely different from what I’m used to since there are a lot more teams to take care of than I’ve had in the past,” said Willey.
Willey is not new to Maine, however. He grew up in the state and even competed in high school track meets at Bowdoin. While studying at the University of Maine, Willey was captain of the track team and a decathalete.
Willey became interested in the profession of strength and conditioning from St. Pierre, who was the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Maine at the time.
“I would go in and talk to him on my own to get advice, see what he was doing; that really sparked my interest in it,” he said.
Willey first ventured to Arizona for a semester internship to complete his undergraduate degree. He vividly remembers the drive out to Tucson.
“It was in August and 110 degrees. I had an old Volkswagen with no air conditioning,” said Willey. “Overheating, I wanted to turn around and come home.”
Willey has been looking for an opportunity to return home to Maine ever since.
“There are only so many positions in terms of strength and conditioning and therefore not that many options of doing what I love to do in the state that I would want to do it in,” said Willey.
Coming from a much larger university, Willey was attracted to Bowdoin’s smaller environment.
“I love a smaller school, smaller campus and community,” he said. “I feel you can get to know everyone and communicate well.”
Ashmead White Director of Athletics Tim Ryan views Willey’s communication skills as an important asset for his new position.
“He can serve as a conduit for the athletic department to the greater Bowdoin community.” Ryan said. “In this position you work not only with students who participate on teams but also faculty and staff from across campus.”
The University of Arizona is a D-I institution, but Ryan said he believes Willey was a great fit for Bowdoin due to his appreciation for the NESCAC philosophy for athletic programs.
“Neil has a firm understanding of the balance between a student having a successful academic experience [...and] an interest in being a competitive athlete,” said Ryan.
“My thought and hope is that at a D-III school kids are doing sports because they love it,” said Willey. “It is not mandatory to be in the weight room, so if kids show up to be in here, my hope is that they want it. That’s what I’ve seen across the board.”
Unsurprisingly, Willey has observed a different level of athletic ability between his old position and Bowdoin.
“In terms of strengths it’s a different ball game,” said Willey. “But at the same time it’s a human body, and my job is to make it a little bit better—hopefully a lot better—whether you’re at the highest or lowest level.”
A main focus for Willey is having athletes bring intensity into the weight room.
“I think that intensity is always going to win whether we’re on the field playing or in the weight room,” Willey said. “I always say if we’re just going through the motions you might as well have stayed home and sat on the couch. I like to see kids always moving. I don’t like to see kids sitting around between sets and just talking, I think that’s something we can do our other 23 hours of the day.”
One major challenge for Willey is adjusting to a much smaller weight room than the 24,00 square foot facility at the University of Arizona.
“I’ve had to rewrite my programs to fit the room,” he said.
Willey does not foresee the new programs he implements to be a major change from St. Pierre’s regimine.
One new thing Willey is currently experimenting with is group workouts, in which he combines athletes from different sports teams.
Ryan said he was very excited to have Willey join the athletic department.
“He’s a thoughtful and caring person who has the best interest of students in mind,” said Ryan. “I’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback and we’re excited to have him here.”
Dan Davies, Bowdoin’s director of athletic training, echoed Ryan’s praise for Willey.
“He’s very professional, in-depth with his workouts,” Davies said. “He has foresight in how to stabilize the body and put it through motion.”
Willey continues to lift weights and remain active.
“I like to try out what I’m having the athletes do before they do it, so I can see if it works and feel what they’re going through,” he said.
Willey also keeps in shape by mountain biking. He competes in observed trials—a type of competitive mountain biking that involves riders racing on obstacle courses with rocks and ledges without touching the ground with their feet.
“I started in junior high and got away from it when I was doing track,” said Willey. “After I moved to Arizona I got back into it—I’ve gotten to compete in the mountain biking world championships for the past two years. It gives me a goal, something to train for.”