B-C’s Connors inducted into hall
Jeff Connors has spent much of his adult life pushing athletes to reach their pinnacle of strength and stamina.
That work was rewarded last week when Connors was inducted into the United States Strength & Conditioning Hall of Fame.
The 60-year-old Connors, a 1975 graduate of Beth-Center High School, has been the strength and conditioning coach for East Carolina University for 16 years over two stops. He coached there from 1991-2001 and returned in 2011 after a stint at the University of North Carolina.
A plaque bearing Connors’ name is currently on display at the York Barbell Museum in York, as well as at the National Office of the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame in Provo, Utah.
“I am extremely honored to be nationally recognized and added to such an elite group of professionals within our field,” Connors said. “This will be my 29th year directing strength and conditioning programs at the collegiate level and I believe that being inducted into the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame is the gold standard of recognition.”
Connors has been honored as a Master Strength & Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa), which represents professionalism, knowledge, experience, expertise and longevity in the field. In 2014, Connors was one of 25 invitees in the country to attend the United States Marine Corps Executive Forum (MCEF) at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.
“I was surprised,” Connors said when told of his induction. “I was aware of the organization but I never thought that would happen to me on such a national level. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those on the committee.”
Also among Connors accomplishments is working with former Pittsburgh Steelers Willie Parker, Jeff Reed, Cam Thomas and Greg Warren. He won four Florida state titles in powerlifting and was ranked as high as fourth in the nation. He holds a Level 1 certification in Olympic weight lifting by the U.S. Weight Lifting Federation.
Prior to starting his career as a collegiate strength coach in 1988, Connors served as a Palm Beach County (Fla.) police officer for two years and was a high school coach from 1982 to 1987.
Connors was inducted into the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
Connors’ father, Bill, was a high school football coach at Ringgold, where he led the Rams to the Class AAAA championship in 1982, Belle Vernon and Beth-Center. Bill Connors was inducted into the same hall of fame in 1996.
“It was a great honor being inducted into the same hall as my dad,” Jeff Connors said.
At Beth-Center, Jeff Connors was a multisport athlete, playing football, wrestling and participating on the track team. He was a quarterback and cornerback for the Bulldogs and was a team captain as a senior.
He went on to Salem College in Salem, W.Va., where he was a four-year starter at defensive back.