The search for the replacement for departed head strength coach Bennie Wylie is over. Wylie left for Texas the first week of January. Sunday, Derek Dooley interviewed and hired .
McKeefery spent 11 seasons in Tampa, Fla. at South Florida University. Following the Bulls bowl game, McKeefery left college athletics to take on a role with the military at Fort Campbell, Kentucky working with the United States Army Special Forces, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
“It’s one of those things that I love South Florida, I’ve been here for a long time, and leaving football, leaving these guys, the staff, it’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made,” McKeefery told the Tampa Tribune. “At the same time it wasn’t a hard decision for an opportunity to be able to use my expertise for my country, and that’s what this is giving me the opportunity to do.”
McKeefery’s absence from college football was obviously a short one as he returns to a game he has spent his life being a part of.
“I am very excited to be at the University of Tennessee and to work with some of the best student-athletes in America,” said McKeefery. “Coach Dooley, the staff, and administration have the utmost character and integrity, and I am eager to begin working with the student-athletes and to contribute to the positive impact that the University is having in their lives.”
McKeefery was an all-conference defensive back from Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas. His first job as a strength coach came as an intern with the Kansas City Royals in Major League Baseball. McKeefery then spent two years as a part-time assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before becoming the head strength coach with the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe.
Since 2000, McKeefery has been at South Florida helping the Bulls transition to a division one program in the Big East. Head coach Derek Dooley announced the hiring Monday afternoon calling McKeefery a great fit.
“Our program improved significantly today with the addition of Ron McKeefery as our football head strength and conditioning coach,” said Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley. “Ron has a track record of proven success in the South over a sustained period of time and is a man of high character and integrity who views Tennessee as a program with unlimited potential.
“We are excited to add a strength and conditioning coach of Ron’s caliber and background to our football program, and we believe his efforts and intensity will play a critical role in our program’s return to a perennial championship contender.”
McKeefery is working on campus today and will be moving to Knoxville with his wife Amy and their three children, Tyler, Ava, and Maya.
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