Jan. 12, 2010
Paul Longo Named Director of Football Strength and Conditioning | Longo Quotes
Jacob Flint and Lorenzo Guess Named Assistant Directors of Strength and Conditioning
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Two former members of the strength and conditioning staff at the University of Cincinnati and one former assistant coach with the Bearcats have been added to the University of Notre Dame strength and conditioning staff, Irish head coach Brian Kelly announced Tuesday.
Paul Longo becomes Notre Dame’s director of football strength and conditioning while Jacob Flint and Lorenzo Guess will serve as assistant directors of strength and conditioning.
Longo has 23 years of experience with NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision schools and has worked at Wisconsin, Iowa, Central Michigan and Cincinnati. He just completed his third season at Cincinnati and has worked alongside Kelly since 2004. Longo’s teams have been well conditioned and have been one of the top closing teams in the nation. Since 2005, Longo’s and Kelly’s teams are 42-1 when leading after three quarters and 39-2 when taking a lead into halftime. Longo has helped produce more than 50 NFL draft picks in his career, including a combined eight picks the last two years at Cincinnati – as many as the Bearcats had produced in the previous five years combined.
Jacob Flint
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“Paul Longo has been an integral part of the success we’ve experienced over the last six seasons,” Kelly said. “He has done an incredible job of not only developing our players and getting them ready to play championship football in our program, but also helping prepare them for the NFL. Paul joins our offensive and defensive coordinators as leaders of this program. He cuts across the traditional strength and conditioning coach mold because he builds relationships with all players and coaches and serves as a leader, not just in the weight room, but throughout the program. Paul is a critical addition to our program because, arguably, no coach will have more contact with our players throughout the whole year than our strength and conditioning coach. Based on his track record and what I have personally witnessed, I can’t wait to see how he’ll make our team better moving forward.”
Flint had been a member of Cincinnati’s strength and conditioning staff since 2007, helping the Bearcats to a 33-6 record during that time. He played for Kelly at Central Michigan as a walk-on and eventually earned a scholarship. In his free time, Flint competes in the 85-kilogram weight class at USA weightlifting events and is ranked 25th nationally.
Guess coached the Cincinnati tight ends in 2009 after previously serving on strength and conditioning staffs from 2005-09 at South Florida, Alcorn State, Kentucky State, Cincinnati and Tiffin. Guess played both football and basketball at Michigan State, earning four letters with the football team and receiving two letters from the basketball team.
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Lorenzo Guess
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“Jake Flint and Lorenzo Guess are great additions to our team because they complement Paul well in the weight room and throughout our program,” Kelly said. “Jake and Lorenzo are both young guys who played college football recently and will help serve as strong leaders in our strength and conditioning program. Jake played for me at Central Michigan, and he has been on a steady rise in this profession since our days in Mount Pleasant. Lorenzo has expertise in the weight room as well as the experience of being an assistant coach at this level, as he worked with our tight ends last year. I’m really excited to see our strength and conditioning staff get to work with our guys.”
The remaining three assistant coaches should be announced in the near future.