| Lorenzo Rivers |
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Lorenzo Rivers is in his 10th year as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Virginia. From 1997-99 and during the 2002 season, he assisted with the football program. He also designed strength and conditioning programs for men's and women's track and field and wrestling at UVa. From 1998 to 2005, he was responsible for directing the strength and conditioning program for men's basketball. He now directs the programs for men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's lacrosse, volleyball and softball, and assists with all other sports.
Rivers came to Virginia from Tennessee Tech, where he served as the head strength and conditioning coach for football from September of 1991 to 1997. He also served as the fitness coordinator for Tennessee Tech's recreation and fitness center from 1994 to 1997.
Rivers received an associate's degree in arts and science from Independence Community College in 1985 and a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Middle Tennessee State University in 1993. He was a football All-American at Independence, setting the school's single-game rushing record of 301 yards on 27 carries.
He attended Tennessee Tech and played football for the Golden Eagles from 1985-87. Rivers, who was red-shirted in 1986, was an All-Ohio Valley Conference selection in 1987. Cited as one of the most explosive runners in the school's history, he rushed 123 times and finished just 25 yards short of the 1,000-yard mark. He recorded five runs from scrimmage of 60 yards or more and averaged 20.2 yards on kick returns to chalk up 1,176 all-purpose yards. His 160.9 yards per game average ranked him among the national leaders. He was elected team captain and received the Robert Hill Johnson Award as the Most Valuable Player that season.
From 1988-90, Rivers was a running back, wide receiver and kick return specialist with the British Columbia Lions and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. During his stint with the B.C. Lions, Rivers became the first player in franchise history to return two punts for touchdowns in a regular season game. In 1988, the Lions played the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.
A native of Kissimee, Fla., he was a four-sport standout in football, wrestling, weightlifting and track at Osceola High School. He earned All-Conference and All-State honors, and was selected to the Orlando Sentinel's 64th annual All-Southern football team at running back. He led Osceola High School to the class AAA state football title game in 1982, and rushed for 3,174 yards and 42 touchdowns during his two-year high varsity career.
Rivers, a member of the National Strength & Conditioning Association, is a certified strength and conditioning specialist. He is also certified as a Level 1 Club Coach for Olympic style weight lifting training by the United States Weightlifting Federation and a certified Level 1 Track and Field Coach by USA Track & Field. He has been a speed instructor at the University of Tennessee's Strength and Conditioning Clinic from 1994-1998, and a speaker at the University of North Carolina's Speed and Strength Clinic. He interned with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the summer of 1999, and served as a volunteer drug escort on the Centennial Olympics Medical Team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.
Rivers is married to the former Tonia Duncan. The couple has a son, Micah (12).
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