Bears hire Brent Salazar as director of high performance

The Chicago Bears have hired Brent Salazar as their strength and conditioning coach, according to the Bears’ website.

The position has a formal title of the Clyde Emrich Director of High Performance, named after the Bears’ former strength coach of 50 years, who passed away last November.

Salazar has previously worked in the NFL for over 10 years with the Broncos, Vikings, and Chiefs. In the last two years, he was a performance strategist for Kitman Labs and was the director of performance for the United States Tennis Association from 2017-2020.

General manager Ryan Poles had this to say of Salazar’s hire, via the Bears.

“We are excited to add this key hire to our football operations staff, a newly created position to oversee, align and continue to develop our strength and conditioning and sports science to optimize player performance,” Poles said. “Players maximizing their potential in preparation, on the field, in recovery and rehabilitation is critical to their overall athletic performance and ultimately team success. To honor the late Clyde Emrich, a pioneer in this space, is very fitting for the director of high performance.”

A strength, conditioning, and performance coach has one of the more critical NFL jobs. It’ll be essential that Salazar keeps the Bears players healthy and performing at their best.