The Bears have hired Brent Salazar as the team’s Clyde Emrich Director of High Performance, the team announced Tuesday.
Salazar will oversee the team’s strength and conditioning and sport science departments. He will work with the athletic training staff to maximize player health, safety and performance.
The position is named after Clyde Emrich, a pioneering strength coach who died last November after 50 years with the Bears.
Salazar arrives in Chicago with more than 10 years of strength and conditioning experience in the NFL with the Broncos, Chiefs and Vikings. He spent the past two years at Kitman Labs as a performance strategist and was the director of performance at the United States Tennis Association from 2017-20.
His duties at the USTA included oversight of the player development’s strength and conditioning team, and he was responsible for optimizing the support that the USTA provides to American players.
“We are excited to add this key hire to our football operations staff, a newly created position to oversee, align and continue to develop our strength and conditioning and sports science to optimize player performance,” new General Manager Ryan Poles said. “Players maximizing their potential in preparation, on the field, in recovery and rehabilitation is critical to their overall athletic performance and ultimately team success. To honor the late Clyde Emrich, a pioneer in this space, is very fitting for the director of high performance.”
Salazar served as the head strength and conditioning coach with the Vikings in 2016. He arrived in Minnesota after nine seasons with the Chiefs as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2007-15. He also worked with the Broncos in 2015 as a strength and conditioning intern.
