Football
- Title:
- Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Email:
- bsowders@sports.uga.edu
- Phone:
- 706-542-9204
Ben Sowders joined the UGA Strength and Conditioning staff in January of 2018 as assistant director.
Sowders came to Athens after one season as director of strength and conditioning at McNeese State University. Prior to the 2017 season, he spent two years on the strength and conditioning staff at Georgia Tech, and also two years as the director of strength & conditioning at Gardner-Webb, where he was responsible for the training of the Runnin' Bulldogs' 21 Division I programs.
Sowders was an assistant strength & conditioning coach at Southern Miss from 2012-13. During his time in Hattiesburg, he was in charge of men's and women's basketball, volleyball, softball, and assisted with football.
Before his time at Southern Miss, he completed a six-month internship at the University of Alabama, working with the Crimson Tide football program and strength coach Scott Cochran. Sowders also worked with the volleyball, tennis, and rowing teams at Alabama.
His first position in the profession came as a facility coordinator and head strength & speed coach with D1 Sports Training in Nashville, Tenn., where he worked with a handful of notable NFL players, including Steve Smith, Jerome Bettis, Donovan McNabb, and Kyle Vanden Bosch.
He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science in December 2008 from Western Kentucky, where he was a linebacker for the Hilltoppers. He entered the program as a walk-on, but he later earned a scholarship and completed his playing career as a two-year starter.
He received his master's degree in recreation and sport administration in August of 2010 from WKU.
Sowders is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and also certified by USA Weightlifting. Additionally, he is a member of the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.
