March 30, 2004

Columbia, Mo. - Former University of Missouri student-athlete Pat Ivey has been named Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Mizzou Athletic Department, as announced today by the department.

Ivey, 30, returns to his alma mater after spending the previous two years at the University of Tulsa as the Golden Hurricane head strength coach. There, he oversaw strength and conditioning efforts for all 18 TU sports, and was part of the resurgence of the football program, which had the nation's best turnaround in 2003. Tulsa went 8-5 in 2003, after going just 1-11 the year before. Four Tulsa student-athletes were named National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA) Strength and Conditioning All-Americans under Ivey's instruction.

"I am very excited about returning to Mizzou, and am very grateful to Mike Alden and Gary Pinkel for giving me this outstanding opportunity," said Ivey. "I'm very impressed by the overall direction of the athletic department, particularly the job that Coach Pinkel and his staff have done with the football program. I look forward to continuing the success at Missouri with all of the sport programs," he said.

"I'd like to thank everyone at Tulsa for the opportunity that I have had here. Coach (Steve) Kragthorpe and (Director of Athletics) Judy MacLeod have given me all the tools and resources I have needed the past two years to be successful, and their support for me making this move has been overwhelming," he said.

Ivey, 30, spent five years as a strength coach at MU prior to his appointment at Tulsa. He served for two years (1999-2001) as assistant director of strength and conditioning for football. Before that, Ivey was a strength and conditioning graduate assistant working with football, wrestling, track and field and baseball.

A three-year football letterman at MU (1993-95), Ivey was selected as an All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete in 1995. Following graduation, he spent time in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers.

Ivey, who earned his bachelor's degree at MU in 1996 and a master's degree in health education in 2000, will begin his position at Mizzou April 12. He will be joined in Columbia by his wife, Starla, and their 15-month old daughter, Paisli. Starla, a native of Hannibal, Mo., is also an MU graduate, and worked for several years as an academic coordinator in the athletic department's Total Person Program.