Tennessee officially announced Tuesday that Rock Gullickson of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams has been named the Vols' new director of strength and conditioning.

Gullickson officially will take over as Tennessee's head football strength and conditioning coach after Michael Szerszen, the Vols' associate director of strength and conditioning, headed their strength and conditioning program last year.

A 39-year veteran in strength and conditioning coaching, Gullickson has spent the past eight years as the head strength coach of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams.

In addition to his football duties, Gullickson will oversee strength and conditioning for all 20 of Tennessee's sports programs.

He's scheduled to be introduced to local media during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Here's the official press release from Tennessee announcing Gullickson's hiring:

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The University of Tennessee announced today that Rock Gullickson has been named director of strength and conditioning.

A veteran of 39 years of coaching experience in strength and conditioning, including 17 in the NFL, Gullickson spent the past eight seasons as the head strength coach of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. In his first season with the club in 2009, he reconstructed the weight room and shifted the program emphasis to training for power and explosiveness. Heavy emphasis was placed on increasing strength levels with modifications based on specific player needs. Gullickson directed the building and reconstructing of the layout of the Rams new facility in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

In addition to his duties with the Tennessee football program, Gullickson will oversee strength and conditioning for all 20 UT sport programs.

"We are estactic to welcome Rock Gullickson and his wife, Terry, into the Tennessee family,” said Tennessee head football coach Butch Jones. “I’ve personally known Rock for more than 20 years and know what he stands for as a coach and a person. He fits the culture we are continuing to build at UT and he has a comprehensive plan that I truly believe our players will greatly benefit from.

"He is passionate about his work, a tireless worker, detail-oriented and has a tremendous track record of developing and motivating players to reach their maximum potential. The strength staff spends more time with our players than anyone and he, along with our current staff, will provide our players with the type of training needed to compete at the highest level."

Prior to joining the Rams, Gullickson spent three seasons with the Green Bay Packers as the head strength coach. He was named NFL Strength Coach of the Year in 2007, an award voted on by all 32 strength and conditioning coaches in the NFL.

Gullickson entered the NFL coaching ranks in 2000 with the New Orleans Saints, serving as strength and conditioning coach through the 2005 season. Before joining the Saints, Gullickson served as a collegiate coach for 22 seasons. He spent time at Louisville from 1998-99 and Texas from 1993-97, where he worked with future NFL players, including Ricky Williams, Priest Holmes and Casey Hampton.

A native of Moorhead, Minn., Gullickson spent three seasons (1990-92) at Rutgers where he worked with current UT head coach Jones. Gullickson joined Montana State in 1982 where he became the first full-time strength and conditioning coach in the history of the Big Sky Conference. He designed a weight room facility at Montana State that played a key role in the program winning the 1984 National Collegiate Division I-AA championship. He was named strength coach and weight room instructor at South Dakota State in 1981 where he earned his master’s degree. He also spent two seasons (1979-80) at Mayville State in North Dakota, where he was an assistant football coach, head track and field coach and strength coach.

A graduate of Moorhead State, Gullickson began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1978. He was a three-year starter at guard and team captain for the Dragons, earning All-Northern Sun Conference honors and was an Associated Press Division III All-American in 1977 as a senior.

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