James ‘Jamie’ O’Neil joined Saint Martin’s University as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball and Women’s Volleyball teams at the start of the 2017 season. Coach O’Neil is in charge of all aspects of the Strength and Conditioning program, including athletic development, injury reduction, and facilitating recovery going into his second season.
The Lacey, Washington native comes to SMU after recently completing an internship at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, O’Neil assisted the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports, working with the Women’s Soccer and Bowling teams, and the Men’s Golf team that was ranked first in the nation heading into the postseason.
Prior to his time in Nashville, he spent more than two years in Macomb, IL as a Graduate Assistant at Western Illinois University. During his time at WIU, Jamie worked with hundreds of student athletes. As the First Assistant for Football, Coach O’Neil was lucky enough to help the Leathernecks on their run to the 2015 FCS playoffs, and was privileged to work with two All-Americans in 2016. At WIU, Jamie was also the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Baseball, Volleyball, Women’s Soccer, and the Throwers on the Track team. The student athletes continued to improve year after year, including a Freshman All-American, a school record holder, and five athletes that signed to play professionally after their collegiate career.
Jamie started his Graduate degree at the University of Virginia. As a GA, his primary responsibility was to help implement the Strength and Conditioning program for the Football team. While in Charlottesville, Coach O’Neil also helped out with numerous Olympic Sports as needed.
To begin his career with NCAA sports, Jamie spent nine months interning at the University of Washington. At UW, Coach O’Neil helped out the Football team and helped prepare senior athletes for their Pro Day. He spent time learning from two different coaching staffs that helped get his career started.
Jamie has an MS in Kinesiology for Western Illinois University and his Bachelor’s in Exercise Science from Central Washington University. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He currently resides in Tumwater.
