Lifetime Achievement
Kent Johnston
The Champions Award
Ryan Reynolds
Kansas City Chiefs
Markus Paul Memorial Scholarship
Ashley Hines
NFL Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year
Mike Clark
Detroit Lions
Kent Johnston spent 29 years as a strength & conditioning professional finishing he career as the Director of Player Wellness with the Carolina Panthers from 2020-2022.
Johnston originally retired from the NFL in 2017 after stops with multiple teams across the league. He got his start in the NFL in 1987 as strength & conditioning coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a position he held for five years (1987-91). He went on to become the strength & conditioning coach with the Green Bay Packers for seven years (1992-98), where he was a part of six playoff appearances and a Super Bowl XXXI winning team. Johnston was named Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 1997.
Following his time with Green Bay, Johnston followed former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren to Seattle where he was the strength & conditioning coach for five seasons (1999-03). He then spent two years (2004-05) at the University of Alabama, before stepping away from the sport to work in the non-profit and business line.
Johnston returned to the NFL in 2010 with the Cleveland Browns, where he spent three seasons (2010-12), before joining the San Diego Chargers staff (2013-16). Before his time in the NFL, Johnston worked on the collegiate level at Northwestern State University (1979-80), Northeast Louisiana University (1980-81) and the University of Alabama (1983-86).
He was inducted into the USA Strength & Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005.
A native of Mexia, Texas, Johnston attended Stephen F. Austin State University. He and his wife, Pam, have four sons: Kody, Kole, Clay and Cade.
Ryan Reynolds completed his first season as Head Strength & Conditioning Coach/Director of Sports Science for the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent his first 7 seasons with the team as assistant strength and conditioning coach/director of sport science.
Reynolds joined the club in 2016 and has assisted a program that has helped the team to eight-straight AFC West titles, six consecutive AFC Championship Games, including hosting a record-setting five straight from 2018-22 and three Super Bowl rings (LIV, LVII and LVIII) including back-to-back Super Bowl titles (LVII, LVIII).
Reynolds spent the summer of 2016 assisting NBA player Derrick Rose prepare for the 2016-17 NBA season, which he played 64 games, by executing a strength and conditioning program designed specifically for Rose. Reynolds served as the assistant strength & conditioning coach for the UCLA Bruins football team for four seasons (2012-16). During this time, he oversaw all of the sports science technology as well as the intern and graduate assistant program.
He also spent time with Arizona State University's football program as an assistant coach focusing on sports performance (2008-12) and as a sports performance graduate assistant for the university's basketball and football teams (2006-08). While at ASU, Reynolds earned a Masters of Education. Between his time as a graduate assistant and an assistant coach at ASU, Reynolds had a brief stint as a sports performance assistant for the University of Louisville's football team (2008) to help establish the strength and conditioning program.
Reynolds started his coaching career as an intern for the University of Iowa while completing his bachelors. While at Iowa, Reynolds focused on men's basketball, Olympic sports and football strength & conditioning (2001-06).
Reynolds graduated with a Bachelor's in exercise science from the University of Iowa in 2005 and received a Master of Education from Arizona State University in 2007. Education: University of Iowa (B.S. 2005), Arizona State University (M.Ed. 2007). Born: Fulton, Ill.
Ashley Hines is a Graduate Student in Exercise Science at Kennesaw State University. While maintaining a rigorous academic schedule, Ashley Hines has been involved in several research studies relevant to performance and training. She is an exceptional student and completed her internship at Chip Smith Performance Systems. She is a woman of outstanding character, work ethic, and perseverance as demonstrated by her ability to overcome numerous challenges in her life. Ashley, it is our hope that this scholarship will be a catalyst in fulfilling your desire to excel in the Strength & Conditioning Coaching profession.
Mike Clark embarks on his 18th NFL season after joining the Lions as the team's director of sports performance in 2021. His career accolades include being a two-time NFL Strength Coach of the Year (2006, 2024), being inducted into the 2003 USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame as a coach, winning the 1998 Big 12 Conference Strength Coach of the Year, being inducted into the University of Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and being named the College National Strength Coach of the Year in 1993.
From 2019-20, Clark served as the director of performance programming with the U.S. Air Force Special Warfare at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Clark's most recent coaching position was as the director of football strength and performance at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas while also coaching the defensive line in his time there (2017-19).
He leads Detroit's strength and conditioning efforts along with the team's nutrition program, with his team consisting of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Josh Schuler, Director of Sports Science Jill Costanza, Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach Thadeus Jackson and Cameron Josse and Director of Performance Nutrition Scott Nealand. Under the direction of Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell, Clark and the performance staff create comprehensive, individualized training programs so that players can achieve a high level of success.
Prior to joining Trinity in 2017, Clark served as the head strength and conditioning coach for the Washington Football Team (2015-16), strength and conditioning coordinator for the Chicago Bears (2013-14) and was the head strength and conditioning coach for the Kansas City Chiefs (2010-12) and Seattle Seahawks (2004-09).
In his NFL experience, he helped his teams capture six division championships, helped the Seattle Seahawks reach Super Bowl XL and helped guide RB Shaun Alexander to NFL MVP honors in 2005.
Before joining the NFL ranks in 2004, Clark spent the 1990-2003 seasons with Texas A&M. He served as the Aggies' head strength and conditioning coordinator from 1990-1999 before becoming the team's assistant athletic director of athletic performance from 2000-03. Clark worked with Campbell as a student athlete at the school from 1995-98.
Prior to joining the Texas A&M staff, Clark was the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Southern California (1988-1990), the University of Oregon (1983-1988), the University of Kansas (1982-1983), and the University of Wyoming (1981-1982). His first coaching positions were as an assistant football coach and the head swimming coach at Topeka (Kan.) High School from 1979-1981.
Additionally, Clark taught training techniques and strategies for sustained high-performance of elite soldiers of the U.S. Army's 275th 2nd Ranger Division in 2011. He also served as the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association's (CSCCA) president in 2001 and is a certified USA Weightlifting Level 1 coach.
He played center on the Ottawa (Kan.) football team and graduated with a degree in physical education in 1977.
Clark has been married to his wife, Kris, for 42 years. They have three adult children, Matthew, Joseph, and Alicia.