Dennis Love is in his fourth season as associate director of football strength & conditioning. He was hired Jan. 19, 2017.
Love came to Purdue after spending the 2015 and 2016 seasons as an assistant strength & conditioning coach with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Denver went a combined 21-11 in the regular season and won three playoff games, including Super Bowl 50 in 2016. Love was directly responsible for all aspects of the Broncos’ quarterback annual performance training. Love worked with Peyton Manning in his final season of professional football in 2015.
During Love’s tenure in Denver, Super Bowl 50 Most Valuable Player Von Miller and cornerback Chris Harris were named first- and second-team All-Pro, respectively, in 2015. Miller and Harris, along with linebacker DeMarcus Ware and cornerback Aqib Talib, were voted to the 2016 Pro Bowl.
Prior to Denver, Love spent 11 years at Clemson (2004-14), including the final four as the director of Olympic sports strength & conditioning. During his time as director, he oversaw the strength & conditioning for all 14 Olympic sports while serving as the head strength coach for the baseball, men’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams. In 2010, his first season working with the baseball program, Clemson advanced to the College World Series and was ranked third nationally in the final polls.
During his time with the Tigers, Love worked with all of Clemson’s athletics programs. Teams won five Atlantic Coast Conference championships under his guide. He also assisted with the football program, where he was tasked with movement specifics with the defensive line and skill positions and designed an NFL combine-specific program for the players.
Love got his start in collegiate athletics in 2002 at his alma mater, Catawba College, in Salisbury, North Carolina. He spent two years as the strength & conditioning coach with the Indians before moving on to Clemson.
Prior to Catawba, Love worked at the Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe, Arizona, for one year as a performance specialist intern.
A two-sport athlete in football and baseball at Catawba, Love earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation in 2000 and a master’s degree in counselor education from Clemson in 2008.
A native of Cheraw, South Carolina, Love is certified by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association and the National Association of Speed and Explosion.
Love is married to Caroline.
Dennis Love