Terrell Williams, SSC, USAW, FMS
St. Xavier High School/Co-Owner of RUNBYU Sports Performance & Personal Fitness

3. What certifications do you have?

USAW Level 1, FMS Level 1, International Sports Science Association (ISSA) (Specialist in Strength & Conditioning (SSC), Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), National Federation of High School Sports (NFHS) Strength & Conditioning Certification, National Federation of High School Sports (NFHS) Concussion Awareness Certification,   Ignition Speed Certified, CPR/AED Certified.

4. What training methods do you implement in your programs or what it's your coaching philosophy?

I have taken parts of various coaching strategies and philosophies (formal, informal, nonformal, pedagogical) from other coaches and incorporated some of them into developing my own philosophy. But I have always maintained my core values and beliefs in the process while not being misled to believe that all of the things that worked for my coaching mentors will work for me.

My professional coaching philosophy is to love our kids first. From there, I place tremendous emphasis, time, and energy on teaching them about hard, tough, and rugged work and how to give relentless effort. I coach and train them the way I would want my own kids to be coached and trained. I realized that I am being entrusted with the most important thing in our parent’s lives, their sons, therefore, safety takes precedence over any training exercise we may incorporate, and it never takes a day off in the weight room or training environment. 

Furthermore, I have embraced a more holistic approach to coaching, teaching, and training. It starts with our key Jesuit values like Cura Personalis, which is a Latin phrase that means care for the person or having care and concern for the personal development of the whole person. Another value within my philosophy of coaching is striving for the Magis which is Latin for more. The Magis embodies the act of discerning the greater good in a given situation to better glorify or serve God and others. At St. X, we must be a man for others as this value embodies the spirit of giving and provides services to those in need. This fits with my coaching mission at St. X because it aligns with its five key principles of; creating opportunities for every young athlete, developing appropriate activities to enhance skills, multi-sport and multi-activity participation, enjoyment and gradually challenging atmosphere and quality coaching for all of our young men.

My methodology of training incorporates the five foundational movements (hinge, squat, vertical/horizontal pull, push and carry) in our year-round sports resistance training programs. Many of the multi-joint or compound exercises I select are considered universal in that all athletes need them regardless of sport.  

5. What is one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you first started?

Probably developing a clearer understanding of the diversity and adaptability of my role as a strength and conditioning coach and mentor. Early in my career, I was solely focused on developing student-athletes minds and bodies for their particular sport. I have since evolved towards being more committed to life coaching.

My primary responsibility as a coach is to develop young men and women as both athletes and people. This involves teaching athletic skills in a healthy and safe environment. More importantly, my role entails coaching young people to develop as good citizens and productive members of our society.    

 6. Do you have anything new or unique to your program that you would be willing to share? (Motivation techniques,  assessments, training programs,  technology,  surveys,  communication methods,  fundraising,  etc).

This year’s pandemic has challenged many strength and conditioning coaches’ conventional methods of training their athletes at all levels of sport competition. At St. X, we have opted to have some of our sports teams come in during the school day and utilize their free/flex period to train. So far it has worked out great! Athletes sign in and the pre-hab and workout is printed out or displayed on the monitors in the weight room. I believe this year has highlighted, even with limited time and the emphasis on safe spacing, strength coaches still provided the absolute safest and best training programs possible. 

Feel free to contact me anytime at 513-888-8389 or twilliams@stxavier.org