DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia Director of Athletics Mary Rob Plunkett has announced Zack Wallace as the department's Director of Sports Performance, following a national search. Wallace comes to UNG with experience in both both the public and private sectors having previously served at Florida Southern, Cal State Northridge and most recently as a performance specialist at ACES Nation in Tampa.

"We look forward to Zack joining our team and supporting each of our student-athletes and programs in the pursuit of competitive excellence," said Plunkett. "He rose to the top of a very competitive applicant pool and we believe he will be an outstanding addition to our team."

Under his direction, the strength and conditioning program at Florida Southern underwent a complete overhaul including massive upgrades to the Gilbert Gym weight room.

His efforts helped Florida Southern produce more than 70 All-Americans as the Mocs claimed a pair of team national titles, four individual national championships and 11 Sunshine State Conference Championships during his tenure. In addition to his work with more than 500 student-athletes, Wallace worked with Exercise Science faculty on a number of sports performance research projects.

Prior to his time at Florida Southern, Wallace spent two years at Webber International in nearby Lake Wales, Fla., where he served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. At Webber, he led the strength and conditioning programs for men's basketball and volleyball, while assisting with football and softball. He also supervised the strength programs for the Warrior's women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, beach volleyball, and men's and women's golf programs.
 
Before his two years at Webber, Wallace was a volunteer assistant strength coach for the football team at Broken Arrow High School in his native Oklahoma and also served as an intern strength coach for one year at his alma mater, the University of Tulsa. Outside of athletics, Wallace worked as the Director of Sports Performance at The Sports Armory - Titan Sport Complex in Jenks, Okla., and was the assistant to the director of campus recreation at the TU Collins Fitness Center at Tulsa.

"I am honored to be the next Director of Sports Performance at the University of North Georgia. I want to thank Athletic Director Mary Rob Plunkett, Derek Suranie and the rest of the hiring committee for a great interview process, which ultimately led to an opportunity for me to work in this established and flourishing athletic department," stated Wallace. "I'm thrilled to be a Nighthawk and to help develop our student-athletes into champions of sport and of life."