Louisville Football Announces Director of Operation and Strength & Conditioning Coaches

Mark BlankenbakerDecember 13, 2018

University of Louisville head football coach Scott Satterfield continues to assemble his first staff as he has announced the hiring of two members of the support staff.

Josh Thompson will join the Cardinals as the director of football operations, while Mike Sirignano will take over as the strength and conditioning coach. Both join the UofL after working with Satterfield at Appalachian State.

Thompson spent the last 10 years working at Appalachian State, his alma mater. A 2002 graduate, Thompson returned to Boone, N.C. in 2009 as the director of team services, overseeing the equipment operations for all 20 varsity sports programs.

In September of 2014, Thompson was promoted to assistant athletics director for football and equipment operations, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of Appalachian State football and served as the program’s primary administrator and department liaison with official shoe and apparel supplier, Nike.

Prior to returning to Appalachian State, Thompson served two years as the athletic equipment manager at Texas State and two years on the football equipment staff while earning a master’s degree in sport and fitness management at Troy. Thompson also spent time at Northwestern High School in his hometown of Rock Hill, S.C. working as equipment manager, assistant athletics administrator and junior-varsity girls basketball coach.

Thompson and his wife, Lindsey, have a son, Jacob.

Sirignano was in his fifth year at Appalachian State, where he started as the director of strength and conditioning in 2014 and was later promoted to assistant athletics director for athletic performance.

Sirignano has previously worked on the strength and conditioning staffs at South Carolina (2012-14), Elon (2012), Rhode Island (2010-12), Northeastern (2009-10) and Bryant (2009). The list of notable student-athletes he has trained includes more than 20 football players that have gone on to play in the National Football League and four track and field Olympians.

Outside of the college ranks, Sirignano served as the president and director of his own company, Next Level ELITE Training Center, from 2007-09 and the defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach at Woonsocket (R.I.) High School in 2008-09.

Sirignano is a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater (Mass.) State, where he was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American, three-time All-New England honoree and three-time Eastern College Athletic Conference all-star.

Sirignano and his wife, Karolina, have a son, Dominic.