Hogs hire new athletic trainer

Dean Weber’s successor as athletic trainer is in place in Fayetteville, the UA just announced this afternoon.

Joe Sheehan, who worked with UA head coach Bobby Petrino in 2001-02 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, was announced by athletic director Jeff Long as the coordinator for athletic training and sports medicine in a news release today.

Pretty quick turnaround for the hire, which is a good thing considering the Hogs report Sunday for fall practice. Sheehan will be the lead athletic trainer for football.

Here’s more from the UA’s release:

Sheehan joins the Razorbacks after spending the past 11 years with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League, including the last three years as an assistant athletic trainer and the director of rehabilitation.

Sheehan will coordinate and manage the medical care for the more than 450 student-athletes that compete for the Razorbacks in 19 intercollegiate sports. He will also serve as the lead trainer for the Razorback football team.

“Joe Sheehan is a great addition to our staff and is the right person to lead our athletic training staff and coordinate our medical staff,” Long said. “Our student-athletes will benefit from his extensive knowledge and his experience at the professional sports level. He is widely recognized for his expertise in injury rehabilitation as well as his pro-active approach in employing preventive training methods. Student-athlete welfare is at the very core of our mission. I am confident that Joe and his staff will provide our student-athletes the highest standard of care.”

In his most recent role with the Jaguars, Sheehan developed and administered player rehabilitation protocols for the organization. He was responsible for all aspects of medical documentation. Sheehan also assisted with the design and implementation of the team’s off-season strength and conditioning program.

…

“I am extremely excited to be a Razorback,” Sheehan said. “I appreciate the opportunity Jeff Long has given me to be a part of this prestigious university and work with all of the 19 outstanding sport programs. Our athletic training staff will work tirelessly to provide state of the art medical care as well as assisting in developing innovative training methods to allow our young men and women to compete successfully at the highest levels.”

– Brandon Marcello

Filed under: Uncategorized by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: July 29, 2008 at 2:21 pm