The Indiana Hoosiers notched the school’s first college football national championship victory on Monday night, taking down the Miami Hurricanes with a 27-21 final score at Hard Rock Stadium.
This College Football Playoff national title win completed the Hoosiers flawless 16-0 season, bringing Curt Cignetti’s overall record to 27-2 since taking over as head coach in Bloomington before the 2024 season.
When Indiana hired Cignetti away from James Madison, the veteran college football coach brought some key assistant coaches with him — including strength coach/director of athletic performance Derek Owings.
Owings just finished his sixth season under Cignetti and his second with the Hoosiers. The USC Trojans attempted to hire him away from Bloomington before the 2025 season, but he elected to stay put for this year’s title run.
Now just one day after Indiana’s national championship victory, the Tennessee Volunteers announced Owings as the program’s new director of football sports performance.
While the Volunteers made things official with Tuesday’s announcement, Owings was hired by Tennessee about a week before Indiana’s national title win. He traveled to Knoxville on a private jet to meet with his new players on Tuesday morning, according to reports.
Owings’ three-year deal is worth $1.2 million per year, making him the highest-paid strength coach in college football history.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel praised the Volunteers’ hire in a press release.
“Physical and mental toughness is paramount in everything we do year-round as a program,” Heupel said. “No one understands this better at a championship level than Derek. He will elevate our strength and conditioning program with a relentless mindset and forge strong relationships with our players.”
Owings replaces Tennessee’s now-former strength coach Kurt Schmidt.
“Tennessee is one of the most iconic brands in college football,” Owings said. “I’m thankful to Coach Heupel for believing in me, and I can’t wait to serve this program, this staff and most importantly, these players on Rocky Top.”
