Matt Mangum begins his sixth season as director of the strength and conditioning programs for all 486 Huskie student-athletes in 17 sports programs, and is in his seventh year overall at Northern Illinois.
In 2007, Mangum and the Huskie strength program take a major leap forward with the move into the Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Center. Mangum and his four-person staff can now service more NIU student-athletes simultaneously thanks to a brand new 12,500-square foot weight room filled with state-of-the-art equipment and featuring an indoor sprint area.
Mangum was elevated to his current position as head strength and conditioning coach in 2001, initially on an interim basis, after spending the 2000-01 school year as an assistant in that area. The Michigan native came to NIU after two years at UNLV, where he was an intern and then assistant strength and conditioning coach in 1999 and 2000.
Still active as a competitor, Mangum placed third in the 2005 APF Senior National Benchpress Championships by benching 578 pounds to earn a spot in the WPC World Benchpress Championships.
He has claimed several American Powerlifting Federation national championships during his career. He was a four-time Junior National Champion (1995-97, 99) and a Teenage World titlest in 1995. He won a trio of Junior World bench press crowns in 1996, 1997 and 1999, and took fourth place at the 2000 U.S. Powerlifting Federation summit.
As an undergraduate at Western Michigan University, Mangum worked as a coach and coordinator for the Bronco Powerlifting Team while doubling as the strength and conditioning coach for the Michigan K-Wings, an International Hockey League affiliate of the Dallas Stars, during training camp in 1997.
Mangum earned a bachelor[apos]s degree in exercise science with a minor in psychology from Western Michigan in 1999.
