Will Santi is Cumberland’s first men’s and women’s powerlifting coach, Vice President of Athletics Ron Pavan announced Monday.
Santi brings a wealth of experience in strength and conditioning, sports performance, and athlete development at both the collegiate and high school levels. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of exercise and sport science at Cumberland, where he teaches strength and conditioning program design and advanced strength programming, while also incorporating nutrition and field training principles into his instruction.
“I am very excited to hire Will Santi as our new men’s and women’s powerlifting coach at Cumberland University,” said Pavan. “Will brings a wealth of experience in powerlifting which will make an immediate impact.”
Prior to Cumberland, Santi served as the director of sports performance at Providence Christian Academy in Murfreesboro where he built the school’s performance program from the ground up. In that role, he designed and implemented strength and conditioning programs across 14 sports, developed movement and speed training systems and helped establish a culture centered on effort, intent and intensity .
Santi also spent time as the director of sports performance at Wil Power Sports Training in Nashville, working with athletes ranging from youth to professionals. His experience includes training collegiate football players for the NFL Combine, working with professional athletes, and developing individualized performance and recovery plans.
“This is the beginning of something truly special here at Cumberland University,” Santi said. “Our tradition will rise on the broad shoulders of effort, where discipline is the standard, consistency is the expectation and excellence is relentlessly pursued.”
Santi holds certifications from USA Weightlifting, USA Track & Field and USA Powerlifting, and is also affiliated with the American College of Sports Medicine and the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Santi earned his master of science in sport and exercise ccience from Cumberland University in 2024 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in exercise and sport science at Liberty University. He earned his undergraduate degree from Rhode Island in 1998.
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