Rutgers University Athletics

Joe Gilfedder is in his first season as assistant strength and conditioning coach for Rutgers football in 2025. Prior to his arrival "On the Banks," Gilfedder spent the previous seven years at Fordham, including six as the senior associate athletic director for sports performance.

At Fordham, Gilfedder was responsible for the administration of the strength training and conditioning programs for 22 intercollegiate teams as well as the oversight, maintenance and safety of the Walsh Training Center, where he supervised and evaluated the assistant strength & conditioning staff.

Gilfedder arrived in the Bronx in March of 2018 after spending three years at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Gilfedder started at Dartmouth in the summer of 2015 as a strength and conditioning intern before being promoted to associate director of strength, speed and conditioning in the summer of 2016. He worked directly with coaching staffs, athletic trainers and the student-athletes of his assigned teams to deliver individualized, sport-specific, year-round training plans. Gilfedder was responsible for the development of the Fueling Station, providing athletes with quality, individualized nutrition for elite performance, as well as using Catapult GPS and Polar HR technologies to track and monitor student-athlete performance and training load.

Gilfedder arrived at Dartmouth via Springfield College where he completed his graduate studies in exercise science with a concentration in strength and conditioning in 2015. Concurrently, he served as a graduate assistant in strength and conditioning for varsity football, women’s lacrosse and men’s sprinters and jumpers from the track team. He also served as head of the sports nutrition program at Springfield, where athletes were educated on nutritional strategies directed to improve health and enhance performance.

Gilfedder previously worked at American International College with their varsity football team as the head strength and conditioning coach from 2013-2015. He also completed internships with the Rutgers University and Western Michigan University football teams.

A certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Gilfedder is also a Level 2 Performance Coach through United States Weightlifting. He holds certification as a sports nutritionist with the International Society of Sports Nutrition and is a Level 2 Precision Nutrition certified coach. Gilfedder also holds certifications in Functional Range Conditioning (FRCMs), Functional Movements Systems (FMS) and Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR L2).

Gilfedder earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Ithaca College in 2012. While at Ithaca, he was a four-year letterwinner at linebacker for the school’s football team, achieving all-conference honors as a senior.