NYU’s varsity athletics have a host of national titles and star players across its programs, from swimming to wrestling — but what’s often overlooked is the driving force that connects them all: the strength and conditioning department. Led by head coach Brett Longobucco and assistant coach Holly Crane, the department aims to provide every athlete with the tools and resources to grow in and beyond the weight room.

Longobucco’s determination to support athletes, paired with the guidance of a mentor, pushed him towards a career in strength and conditioning. His soccer coach at Endicott College, who also served as the program’s head strength and conditioning coach, gave Longobucco his first look into what collegiate-level training could look like — both physically and developmentally. 

“I was just undersized my whole life,” Longobucco said. “The weight room was a way I could bridge that gap a little bit more and be more competitive.” 

Before heading to New York City, he worked at Harvard University, the University of Miami, Vermont State University and the University of Mary Washington. 

“NYU is certainly a place that — even before I was hired — I immediately felt like I would fit in,” Longobucco said. “It felt like a community that I would get a sense of belonging in, but also I would be able to bring tremendous value to.”

That sense of camaraderie fuels his coaching philosophy. Longobucco is not only teaching athletes how to train during their time at NYU, but also instilling in them the right methodology and resources to take care of their bodies and minds for the rest of their lives. 

Crane has been at NYU since 2021, after interning with Fordham University’s strength and conditioning department and working as a personal trainer. She was drawn to NYU for its department that values student development just as strongly as competition.

A mix of strength training and injury prevention shapes the workload at the Violets’ Varsity Performance Center. The program strives to meet athletes where they are: Everyone starts off with the fundamentals, whether they have prior experience with weight lifting or have never touched a dumbbell. 

From there, the approach becomes more specialized — each NYU team is provided with a different program based on the demands of its sport. Track athletes train to explode vertically and horizontally. Basketball players work on sharpening their lateral quickness and reaction time. Throughout it all, the work mirrors the stage of the season each team is in. 

“In the offseason, that’s when usually the bulk of the work happens, because we’re not managing fatigue levels,” Crane said. “Regardless of what time of year it is, our main priority is injury prevention and minimizing injury risk while also getting marginally stronger each week, each month.”

Different sports grapple with different repeat injuries — for example, swimmers are more likely to be battling shoulder and groin strains and soccer players are more prone to ACL tears and hamstring pulls. The coaches aim to study the sports they’re working in and find weak spots to target in training. Replication of competitive conditions inside the weight room is key to preparing athletes for their work outside of it. 

Strength and conditioning at NYU is just as much about the culture as it is about the training — the coaches’ true reward isn’t found in stronger lifts, but in watching athletes evolve over their years in the program. For female athletes, Crane sees particular value in that growth.

“The weight room can be an extremely intimidating place for women,” she said. “Watching the transition from how a woman athlete looks when she’s 18, first timid in this space, and how she looks when she’s 22 and owning it — it is so cool.”

When Longobucco first joined the program, he was the only full-time coach in the building. Now, the department has grown into a tight-knit team of two full-time staff, three part-timers and a graduate assistant: a collective of individuals pushing the standard at NYU higher every year. 

“You see peaks every day in the weight room,” Longobucco said. “The moment that you see on their face, ‘Holy crap, I’m actually strong’ — that will light you up. As a coach, that’s what it’s about.”

Contact Anes Dali at [email protected].