Troy Football Finalizes Strength Staff

 
TROY, Ala. – Troy Football head coach Gerad Parker filled out his strength staff Sunday with the addition of Darl Bauer and Jon Heck to his coaching staff. Bauer takes over the director of football strength performance role following five years at Houston, while Heck moves into the assistant director of football strength performance role after a season with the Houston Texans.
 
Darl Bauer – Director of Football Strength and Performance 
 
Darl Bauer begins his first season as Troy's director of strength and performance following a five-year stint at Houston. Prior to his tenure with the Cougars, Bauer spent 10 seasons at West Virginia.
 
Bauer and the Cougars posted a 12-win season in 2021, which included a victory over No. 16 SMU during the regular season and a win over Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl. In Houston's final season in the AAC, the Cougars won eight games and defeated Louisiana in the Independence Bowl. During his tenure, 11 Cougars were selected in the NFL Draft with the expectation of at least three more in the 2024 NFL Draft.
 
He joined the West Virginia staff in 2009 as a graduate assistant before transitioning into a full time role in 2010. He was promoted to assistant director of strength and conditioning/director of applied performance prior to the 2018 season.
 
Before his extended tenure in Morgantown, Bauer spent the summer of 2007 at Eastern Michigan, where he was a strength intern assisting with the football program in addition to helping train the men's basketball, women's soccer and women's volleyball teams.
 
During the summer of 2006 and 2007 and from December 2008 until May 2009, Bauer was a sports performance specialist at the Total Performance Center in Wixon, Michigan. He designed and implemented a four-day weight program for the varsity football team at Novi High School. Additionally, he designed and administered a comprehensive offseason strength and conditioning program for NFL clientele. He also trained athletes of all ages, skill levels and sports from the greater Detroit area.
 
Bauer also served as a strength and conditioning coach at Detroit Country Day School in the 2007 summer and Fairmont Senior High in the 2009 summer, setting up training programs for their varsity programs.
 
He is a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association , the highest distinction in the strength profession. 
 
Bauer graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education from Hillsdale in 2008 and a master's of science degree in athletic coaching education from West Virginia in 2010. Bauer is married to the former Carly Daniels, and the couple has two daughters, Gigi and Lula, and a son, Boone.
 
Jon Heck – Assistant Director of Football Strength and Performance
 
Jon Heck begins his first season as Troy's assistant director of strength and performance following one season with the Houston Texans.
 
His stint with the Texans was his second at the NFL level as he spent the 2017 season on the Carolina Panthers' strength and conditioning staff. Prior to his return to the NFL with the Texans, Heck was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for five seasons at North Carolina. 
 
The Tar Heels played in a bowl game in four of his five seasons, including a 55-13 victory over Temple in the 2019 Military Bowl and a matchup with Texas A&M in the 2021 Orange Bowl. 
 
Before his stint with the Tar Heels, Heck worked as a sports performance coach at D1 Sports Training in Raleigh, N.C. 
 
A graduate of North Carolina and a four-year letterwinner for the Tar Heels, Heck holds a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science. He was a four-year starter at right tackle and a two-time All-ACC selection in 2015 and 2016, where he helped lead UNC to appearances in the Russell Athletic Bowl and Sun Bowl; the Tar Heels played in a bowl game in all four of his seasons after playing in just four the prior eight seasons.
 
Heck is married to the former Deanna Zolnoski.