Hokie ClubGreg Werner became the head strength and conditioning coach for Virginia Tech women's basketball in May 2016. He is responsible for the year-round development of the Hokies in all areas of athleticism and injury prevention. Werner was head strength and conditioning coach for most of Kenny Brooks’ 14-season head coaching tenure at JMU.
Prior to Tech, Coach Werner was the head strength and conditioning coach for women’s basketball at Auburn University for one season where he helped the Tigers move up several spots in the SEC standings and make it to the NCAA tournament where they won their opening round game and had a 20-win season. For twenty years Werner was the head strength and conditioning coach at James Madison. He began that role in 1995 after working as an assistant in the program the previous three years. While at JMU, Werner directed the program for all sports. He was inducted into the JMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 with the 1994 NCAA national champion field hockey team. Before working at JMU, Werner was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for one year at the University of The Pacific in Stockton, California where he worked with football, volleyball, baseball, softball, tennis, swimming and water polo, and additionally taught classes in the sport sciences department.
Werner received his master’s degree in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science from JMU in 1994. He became interested in the science of speed, strength and conditioning while earning his bachelor’s degree in human performance with an emphasis in exercise science at Austin Peay State University (’91). While at APSU he worked as an assistant strength coach for two years.
In his tenure as the head strength and conditioning coach at JMU, Werner grew the program from one part-time assistant to its impressive current size, with six full-time coaches working out of five weight rooms and two multi-purpose/cardio rooms, nearly 20,00 square feet of space, serving 19 teams. In addition to directing JMU's strength and conditioning program Coach Werner was an adjunct professor for the School of Kinesiology where he designed and taught "KIN 425, Concepts of Strength & Conditioning," for 15 years. In 2014 he was awarded the Kinesiology Department’s Professional of the Year award.
Outside of the collegiate ranks Werner has instructed several NFL, MLB, MLS, pro basketball and Olympic athletes. In 2011 he was elected by his peers to be a board of director’s member for the CSCCA, and again in 2015 he was re-elected to the board for a second term. In 2006, Werner received the highest professional honor by earning the title of Master Strength & Conditioning Coach from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. That same year he was nominated by his peers to be one of three finalists for the NSCA's College Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year Award. In 2005 he received the highest honor from the National Strength & Conditioning Association and earned the Coach Practitioner distinction. In 1999 he was selected the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Colonial Athletic Association Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year, and was nominated by his peers to be one of three finalists for the national professional of the year award. Also in 1999, he was selected to be the strength and conditioning specialist for the US National Field Hockey team.
Werner has been active in the National Strength and Conditioning Association for several years. He served as the Virginia state director for the maximum term, and has been an active speaker at the NSCA sport specific training conference, CSCS symposium and several other coaches clinics and camps. In 2014, the NSCA honored Werner with the registered strength and conditioning coach Emeritus distinction and awarded him the honorary 20-year ring. In addition to coaching and teaching, Werner has published over 30 articles in various coaching journals, magazines and websites. Werner is a National Strength and Conditioning Association certified strength and conditioning specialist and is certified through the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association. He is an American College of Sports Medicine certified health/fitness instructor. Werner and his wife Cyndi have two grown children, Hans Christian and Heidi Faith.
NCAA Tournament basketball teams that Greg Werner has worked with:
Men’s Teams: APSU 1987 2nd round,
JMU 1994, 2013 2nd round
Women’s Teams: JMU 1996, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014 2nd round, 2015,
VT 2021 2nd round, 2022, 2023 Final Four
Auburn 2016 2nd round
WNIT Teams: JMU 2001 Final Four, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012 Final, 2013 Final Four
VT 2017, 2018, 2019