“After a thorough review of our sports performance areas, it became clear that in order to maximize our player’s health, safety, and effectiveness on the field, we needed to establish a centralized group that would better position our team for success,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said in a team statement. “During our search for the right person to lead this group Dr. Brad DeWeese impressed us, not only with his proven track record, but also with his vision, insight, and strategic approach to maximize athletic care and performance.”

Dr. DeWeese, having earned his Doctorate degree at North Carolina State University, will end his tenure as the Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Performance at East Tennessee State’s athletic program. He has closely worked with the United States Winter Olympics preparation program in Lake Placid, having overseen athletes from three sports en route to 21 medals in the Games and World Championships.

Dr. DeWeese listed some lofty goals upon his arrival to One Jets Drive, declaring “I want us to be the model for other NFL teams to develop their system by”.

“We are sincerely going to take an objective approach to training and performance first,” Dr. DeWeese said of his goals in the same statement. “Our job is to make sure when Coach Saleh looks down the sideline, he has the maximum number of players available and that those players are going to be strong and they’re going to be fast. And we are going to look under every rock and make sure everything we do is sound. We’re going to maximize the training from the weight room with what I call a sprint-based model.”

Injuries have been a major concern for the Jets over the past few seasons. Data obtained by Kristian Dyer of Sports Illustrated, for example, revealed that the Jets lost a jaw-dropping 273 games man-games to injury during the 2019 seasons, the second-worst rate in the NFL.

Jets reporter Eric Allen also unveiled other names added to the Department’s staff, which include Mike Nicolini, (head strength & conditioning coach), Dr. Matt Sams (director of sports science), Dr. Robert Sausaman (assistant director of high performance), and Dr. Omar Ahmad (assistant strength & conditioning coach).