Football
- Title:
- Head Strength Coach
- Phone:
- 325-1928
Year at MSU: 4th, 2nd in head role
In 2017, Nick Savage enters his fourth season on the Mississippi football staff and second spearheading the Bulldogs’ strength and conditioning efforts.
Savage has played a key role during one of the most successful three-year stretches in MSU history, a period in which the Bulldogs rank second in the SEC West in victories since 2014. He’s been to a bowl game every year on staff and developed the squad into one of the nation’s fittest and most physical.
The 2016 season was Savage’s first in the head role as MSU posted 14 school statistical records and won its second straight bowl game, a 17-16 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the St. Petersburg Bowl in December.
Savage spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as the assistant strength coach and earned rave reviews from the players and staff. Said head coach Dan Mullen at the time of his hiring, “he brings an infectious personality, energy and a purpose to our facility every day.”
Savage was the interim head strength coach during December 2015 as MSU prepared for the Belk Bowl following the departure of Rick Court to Maryland. The Bulldogs defeated NC State 51-28 in Charlotte a few weeks later and never trailed, jumping out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.
Savage has worked exclusively with football since he joined Court’s MSU staff in May 2014. He was a part of the first back-to-back seasons of at least nine victories in program history.
The 28-year-old has gained experience at four different FBS programs since January 2013. He interned at Bowling Green from January 2013-May 2013 and then at Ohio State from May 2013-January 2014. Savage worked with Court and renowned strength coach Mickey Marotti with the Buckeyes.
Savage served as a graduate assistant at Toledo for five months before arriving in Starkville. He was instrumental in developing the Bulldogs into one of the nation’s fittest teams while serving as an assistant during the 2014 campaign that saw MSU spend five weeks atop the polls and earn its highest Associated Press poll finish since 1940 (No. 11).
The Youngstown, Ohio, native earned his undergraduate degree in exercise science from Youngstown State in 2013. He completed his master’s degree from Toledo in recreation administration in 2016. Savage attended Boardman High School in Youngstown.
He and his wife, Gianna, reside in Starkville.
Coaching Experience
2016-present: Mississippi State (Head Strength Coach)
2014-15: Mississippi State (Assistant Strength Coach)
2014: Toledo (Graduate Assistant Strength Coach)
2013-14: Ohio State (Strength Intern)
2013: Bowling Green (Strength Intern)
Bowl Games as a Coach
2016: St. Petersburg Bowl (MSU)
2015: Belk Bowl (MSU)
2014: Orange Bowl (MSU)
2013: Orange Bowl (Ohio State)
Personal Information
Birthdate: March 22, 1989
Hometown: Youngstown, Ohio
Education: Bachelor’s in exercise science from Youngstown State, 2013; Master’s in recreation administration from Toledo, 2016
Wife: Gianna
