On Tuesday morning, Tennessee football hired Indiana’s Derek Owings as its new strength and conditioning coach. According to reports, he’ll be compensated $1.2 million per year, making him the highest-paid strength coach in the history of college football.
Owings has been with the Hoosiers the past two seasons with Curt Cignetti. This means that he was just crowned a national champion with Indiana last night and helped quarterback Fernando Mendoza win the Heisman Trophy.
During the playoff run, Mendoza was asked about his running game on The Pat McAfee Show. He quickly credited the strength staff, particularly Owings, for getting him to the correct weight.
“Coach Owings and the strength staff here got me up from I think 205, 210 to now a low of where I need to weigh in and weigh-ins every week at 225,” Mendoza said. “With that, I’ve been able to put on good weight where I’m able to run and I’m able to still be fluid in my movements. Whenever the team needs me to run, I can always run.”
Pat McAfee on Fernando Mendoza’s Running Ability #iufb
“You got a fatter ass than a lot of people think. You’re a stallion..You are a strapping lad”
The whole segment is brilliant 😂
Derek Owings and S&C staff put 20 lbs on Mendoza and he has a 225 lb minimum weekly weigh in pic.twitter.com/blRIqUXVpF
Advertisement— Hoosier Review (@Hoosier_Review) January 6, 2026
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Owings will be tasked with helping a trio of quarterbacks at Tennessee next season. The Vols are slated to have a quarterback battle between redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon and Colorado transfer and redshirt-junior Ryan Staub.
In the case of MacIntyre, adding weight is certainly a priority. He stood at a towering 6-foot-6, but just 195 pounds as a freshman.
Brandon may also be a candidate to put on some muscle. 247 listed him at 6-foot-3.5 and 200 pounds as a recruit. Most high school prospects see a significant jump heading into their first season, though.
Staub was listed as 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds. However, he’s had more time in a college weight room than the others.
