John Wagle Staff

John P. Wagle joined the University of Notre Dame in 2022 as the Pat & Jana Eilers Associate Athletics Director, Sports Performance. In this role, he aims to maximize the collaborative efforts of several student-athlete facing support verticals including Sports Medicine, Strength & Conditioning, Psychology, Nutrition, and the GLD (Grow. Lead. Do.) Center. Alongside this team of experts and our coaches, Wagle implements contemporary technology and progressive analytics methodologies to provide data-driven decision support that impacts the health, development, and performance of each student-athlete. Furthermore, he is responsible for expanding numerous campus partnerships to foster innovation through research initiatives, ultimately enhancing the student-athlete experience and contributing to competitive advantage.

Before joining the Fighting Irish, he dedicated four years to the Kansas City Royals, initially as their Strength & Conditioning Coordinator and the latter three years as their Director of Performance Science/Player Development. In these capacities, Wagle played a key role in supporting an interdisciplinary team that collectively reimagined the organization’s player development and injury prevention processes, leading to six MiLB championships. Prior to the Royals, he earned his PhD in Sports Physiology & Performance from East Tennessee State University. During this time, he served as a lead member of the Olympic Training Site high performance team for bobsled, luge, and skeleton athletes, contributing to the preparation of nine Olympians and a podium during the Winter Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018. Preceding his time at ETSU, he was the Director of Sports Performance at DePaul University.

Wagle double majored in Physics and Business Management at Augustana College, where he was an All-American baseball player and inducted into their Hall of Fame. He holds an MBA from Loyola University-Chicago, an MNA from North Park University, and an MS in Kinesiology from Western Illinois University. Wagle has also completed post-graduate certificates in Applied Statistics and Exercise Rehabilitation for Sports Injuries from Penn State University and Australian Catholic University, respectively. He authored 32 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, numerous book chapters, and recently co-authored the book Strength & Conditioning in Sports: From Science to Practice. A native of Rock Island, IL, he is married to Dr. Katy Demitruk and resides in South Bend, IN.