Marcus Williams joined UMass Lowell in August 2018 as the Head Sports Performance Coach and was elevated to Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance in October 2022. In this leadership role, he manages a staff of six Sports Performance Coaches and oversees the daily operations of two athletic performance facilities as well as the department’s nutrition and refueling station. Williams is a member of the department’s Senior Leadership team, he contributes to high-level departmental decisions involving athletic operations, budgeting, and student-athlete health and safety. He also serves on the Student-Athlete Wellness Advancement Team, helping develop initiatives that enhance the overall student-athlete experience. Williams currently works directly with the men’s basketball and women’s soccer programs. He also serves as the Sports Supervisor for the Men’s Lacrosse program, providing administrative oversight and supporting the program’s operational needs.
Since arriving in the Mill City, Williams has played a vital part in modernizing the sports performance infrastructure. He has expanded UMass Lowell’s sports performance internship curriculum emphasizing strength and conditioning education, applied sport science, and professional development and has contributed to departmental diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. His technical expertise includes experience with sports performance technologies such as GPS monitoring systems and velocity-based training tools.
Before his tenure at UMass Lowell, Williams served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Athletic Community Service Coordinator at Franklin Pierce University, where he supported more than 400 Division II student-athletes across 26 athletic programs. He supervised the strength and conditioning staff, coordinated community engagement opportunities for over 500 student-athletes, and served as sport supervisor for the men’s and women’s golf and field hockey programs. He was also the 2017 Northeast-10 recipient of the MOAA/NACDA Symposium Division II Grant.
Williams’ career includes additional strength and conditioning roles at Central Connecticut State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the Detroit Tigers, the West Michigan Whitecaps, and Power Source Training Center. He began his coaching journey as a strength and conditioning intern at both the University of Pittsburgh and Quinnipiac University.
He holds certifications through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (SCCC), the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS), Reflexive Performance Reset (Level 1), USA Weightlifting (Level 1), and the American Red Cross (CPR/AED).
A native of Port Chester, New York, Williams earned his bachelor’s degree in health and physical activities with a minor in Fitness from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011, followed by a master’s degree in physical education with a specialization in Exercise Science from Central Connecticut State University in 2016. He currently resides in Methuen, Massachusetts with his wife Lainie, daughter Laila, and their dog Georgia.
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