Trevor Short Hired as Senior Associate AD for Health, Wellness & Performance

LOGAN, Utah — Utah State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Diana Sabau announced Friday the addition of Trevor Short to the staff as senior associate athletics director for health, wellness and performance.

Short will oversee multiple areas in the department, including the daily operations of nutrition, strength and conditioning, sports medicine, mental wellness and sports performance, providing a holistic approach to student-athlete well-being and athletic performance.

"Trevor's experience is a valued addition to our staff and will be instrumental in helping our student-athletes perform at their best through a holistic approach to well-being," Sabau said. "As we continue to modernize our operations, the addition of Trevor provides much-needed support, helping us future-proof the areas of health, wellness and athletic performance."

Before joining Utah State, Short spent two seasons as the performance and sports scientist at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. He planned, implemented and oversaw sports scientist initiatives for all intercollegiate teams, promoting student-athlete readiness, performance and roster availability. Additionally, Short managed various technologies and collected and analyzed data, allowing for better communications between teams and support staff and creating individualized athletic profiles to assist with making decisions.

"I'm incredibly grateful to Utah State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Diana Sabau, USU Deputy Athletic Director of External Engagement Bobby Nash and the hiring committee for entrusting me with this opportunity," Short said. "I'm excited to join Utah State and contribute to a culture of excellence, where student-athlete health, wellness and performance are integral components of organizational success."

While in Hawai'i, he served as an adjunct professor and a Hawai'i State board director of the National Strength and Conditioning Association since June 2023. Short spent three years as a doctoral graduate assistant from August 2020 to May 2023, receiving his Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology.

"My vision is to elevate Utah State Athletics by fostering an integrated high-performance model, unifying sports medicine, mental wellness, nutrition, strength and conditioning and performance science," Short said. "We'll take a data-informed, systems engineering approach to support athlete readiness, maximizing roster availability and optimizing athletic performance. I look forward to collaborating with the incredible coaches and staff to make Utah State a national leader in high performance."

He spent two years at Perform for Life, serving as chief operating officer (Nov. 2019 to Aug. 2020) and director of performance (July 2018 to Oct. 2019). Short provided strategic oversight of operations over three state-of-the-art training facilities and managed training, program design, education and development of full-time certified strength & conditioning specialists.

Before his work at Perform for Life, he was a strength and conditioning, research and teaching graduate assistant at California Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Short started his career as a sports performance coach at Hawaiian Optimum Performance (2016-2018), aiding in the offseason athletic development of NFL players and conducting speed and agility programs for collegiate and youth athletes.

He has various certifications, including as a certified performance and sport scientist and certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Additionally, he has published many peer-reviewed articles related to the pursuit of peak athletic performance, spanning multiple verticals and including the areas of strength and conditioning, sports science, sports medicine and exercise physiology.

Short received his master's in exercise science and bachelor's in kinesiology from California Polytechnic University, Humboldt in 2018 and 2016, respectively.