Craig Fitzgerald is in his first season as the Giants' director of strength and performance.
Fitzgerald joined the Giants after a two-year stint at the University of Tennessee, where he had was the director of football sports performance. In 2019, the Volunteers improved from 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the Southeastern Conference to 8-5 – including a Gator Bowl victory against Indiana – and 5-3 in the conference.
In his first season with the program in 2018, Fitzgerald's strength program helped the Vols to two upset victories over ranked opponents Auburn and Kentucky.
Prior to his tenure in Knoxville, Fitzgerald was the head strength and conditioning coach of the Houston Texans from 2014-17. He helped Houston win back-to-back AFC South division championships in 2015 and 2016, while putting together three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history (2014-16).
In Fitzgerald's first year in Houston, the Texans led the NFL with a seven-win improvement and became the sixth NFL team since 1978 to post a winning record following a season in which it won two games or less.
Fitzgerald was the leading football strength and conditioning coach at Penn State (2012-13). He revamped Penn State's training and workout facilities and developed the popular "Iron Lion" T-shirt, which directed proceeds from sales of the shirt to PSU's chapter of Uplifting Athletes, a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness for rare diseases.
His term at Penn State followed three successful seasons (2009-11) working with Steve Spurrier at the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks won a school-record 11 games and finished in the Associated Press Top 10 for the first time in school history in his final season.
Fitzgerald was the director of strength and conditioning at Harvard from 2005-09, overseeing 41 varsity sports, including the football team that won Ivy League championships in 2007 and 2008. From 2000-05, he served as an assistant director of strength and conditioning at the University of Maryland, his alma mater. Fitzgerald was the first director of strength and conditioning at Catholic University from 1997-99, when he was also was the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator.
Fitzgerald holds the highest honor awarded in his profession, the certification of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He is also certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
He was a three-year letterwinner and starting tight end for the Terrapins from 1994-96 after beginning his career as a walk-on.T
Fitzgerald and his wife, Mary, have three sons: Mac, Joe and Luke.
1997-99 Catholic University - director of strength and conditioning
1999 Arizona State University - graduate assistant strength/conditioning
2000-05 University of Maryland - asst. director of strength and conditioning
2005-09 Harvard University - director of strength and conditioning
2009-11 University of South Carolina - director of strength and conditioning
2012-13 Penn State University - director of strength and conditioning
2014-17 Houston Texans - strength and conditioning
2018-19 University of Tennessee - director of football sports performance
