MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama Associate Athletic Director of Sports Medicine Jinni Frisbey announced Wednesday the promotion of Callye Williams to Director of Strength and Conditioning/Athletics, with Garett Mize and Ellis Hill joining the staff as assistant coaches.

Williams has been a member of the Jaguar strength and conditioning staff since August 2013, when she came to South after two years at Oklahoma State.  She has worked with numerous Jag programs in the last four seasons, and will be responsible for USA's softball, volleyball and men's golf teams; in addition, she will be in charge of developing and executing both strength and conditioning and rehabilitation plans, supervising the day-to-day operation of the athletics weight room and overseeing multiple full-time staff and interns.

At OSU, she worked directly with the softball and soccer programs while also supervising the development of the equestrian team, with her efforts helping Cowgirl soccer advance to the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Tournament after winning the Big XII title that fall.  Williams was the senior associate strength and conditioning coach at James Madison for three years before her stint at OSU, working primarily with the Dukes' baseball, softball, volleyball and men's tennis programs; she also assisted in training JMU's men's and women's basketball and women's soccer teams, and was responsible for the daily maintenance of three weight rooms and two multi-purpose cardio rooms.  During her time with the program, the women's soccer program advanced to the third round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, baseball won two Colonial Athletic Association championships and women's basketball claimed back-to-back league tournament titles.

Williams played softball at Mississippi State from 2003-06, helping the Bulldogs to NCAA Regional appearances each of her first three seasons.  After being named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Academic All-America Team and Southeastern Conference Honor Roll each of her last three years, she received her bachelor's degree in 2006 and her master's degree two years later following a stint as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Bulldogs.

Williams — a native of Katy, Texas — is certified by both the National Strength and Conditioning (NSCA) and Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches (CSCCA) Associations, and has also earned club level coaching status from USA Weightlifting (USAW).

"With Callye's experience — working at several NCAA Division I institutions — she brings a lot of administrative knowledge to strength and conditioning," said Frisbey.  "Callye is extremely passionate about her profession, she is a great leader who has an outstanding rapport with our coaches, staff and student-athletes, and she understands our student-athletes well-being needs.  Her philosophy and leadership will be tremendous assets for overseeing the department.  I believe this new organizational structure will benefit all of our sports programs to have Callye and Lance [Ancar] working independently, but as a collaborative team, under the same umbrella to guide and lead the strength and conditioning and athletic performance programs our nearly 400 student-athletes."

Mize will be responsible for working with South's men's basketball and women's golf teams and helping with the football squad after serving as the Associate Director of Athletic Performance at Western Carolina the last two seasons.  His efforts saw him aid in the development of Catamount student-athletes from the football, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, tennis, men's and women's golf, and track and field programs.  Mize began as WCU's assistant strength coach the previous semester, and has also worked as a strength and conditioning intern at Akron and Eastern Michigan after serving as both linebackers and assistant strength coach at Kentucky Christian during the 2013 season.

He was a two-year football letterwinner at Kentucky Christian, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration and biblical ministry in 2014, and is working toward a master's degree in sports management at Western Carolina.  Mize — who originally hails from Lebanon, Ohio — has received certification from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, United States Weightlifting Federation and USA Track & Field.

"Coach Mize has been awesome since he has arrived here at South, he is doing a great job with the men's basketball team," Williams said.  "He is doing individualized workouts, he has each student-athlete on a nutrition plan, he is doing extra workouts with them, and is at their practices and in the cafeteria with them.  Garett is going above and beyond what a strength and conditioning coach does on a day-to-day basis, he is taking this opportunity and running with it.  Both the men's basketball coaching staff and I are pleased with what he has done so far, he is helping set them up to experience success in the fall."

Hill was a freshman on the inaugural Jaguar football team in 2009, going on to letter twice during a four-year career that saw the Tuscaloosa, Ala, native rush for 253 yards and two scores while averaging 5.0 yards per carry.  After working as a strength and conditioning intern his final semester, he earned a bachelor's degree in sports management from USA in 2013.  Hill would go on to serve two years as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Lamar — receiving a master's degree in kinesiology from the school in 2015 — where in addition to planning and implementing the program for football he designed workouts for Cardinal baseball, women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track and field.

Upon earning his master's degree, Hill completed internships with the strength and conditioning staffs at Tulane and Alabama State before returning to Mobile.  He has earned certification from the United States Weightlifting Federation and will work directly with USA's women's basketball and men's and women's track and field teams while also assisting with football.

"Coach Hill wants what is best for his student-athletes, you can tell by the way he coaches and with what he brings to the table as a former football player at South that he has a sense of pride in his work with our student-athletes," said Williams.  "He has been doing a great job with his teams not only running their workouts but attending practices, and going above and beyond making sure they are getting what they need from a nutritional standpoint as well as from a strength and conditioning perspective."

The two join a staff that also includes Director of Strength and Conditioning/Football Lance Ancar and assistant coach Joey Choron, who will continue to work directly with the Jaguar baseball and soccer programs while overseeing the men's tennis team.  TJ LaFaver, a 2017 graduate of Missouri Western State, will serve as a graduate assistant working with USA football this fall as well.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/priorityfund

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