Dwight Galt enters his second season as Director of Performance Enhancement of the Vanderbilt football program. A veteran strength coach of 29 years, Galt joined James Franklin's staff before the 2011 campaign.
Galt and his strength staff had an impressive impact on the Commodores in 2011. The Vanderbilt team conditioned by Galt proved to be a superbly conditioned squad during a much-improved 6-win regular season that followed consecutive 2-10 marks. The Commodores' team fitness was most obvious after intermission when they held a 172-151 accumulative scoring advantage.
Galt came to Vanderbilt from Maryland, where he worked with Franklin while conditioning some of the Terps' finest gridiron teams and players.
Many Galt pupils rank among the elite performers at the NFL Combine.
At the 2012 combine, Vanderbilt's Sean Richardson ranked first among all safeties in the vertical jump, board jump and bench press. Another Commodore, Casey Hayward, put up the No. 1 20-yard shuttle among cornerbacks. In past years, performances by a slew of Galt-trained athletes have amazed NFL scouts, such as tight end Vernon Davis, wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and cornerback Dominique Foxworth. Davis and Heyward-Bey rank among the Top 10 all-time performers at the combine, with Davis posting a fastest 40-yard dash ever by a tight end (4.36) and Heyward-Bey running the fastest 40 (4.30) by a wide receiver in a decade.
Nearly 40 of Galt's former athletes are currently playing in the NFL.
Galt served as Director of Strength & Conditioning at Maryland for the last 17 of 27 years he spent with the football program. He assisted in the preparation of ACC championship football teams in 1984 and 1985, and also was the conditioning coach for the Terps' men's basketball program that featured phenom Len Bias.
After starting as a full-time strength coach with Maryland in 1989, Galt was named Maryland's Head Strength Coach in 1993, with responsibility for the physical preparation of 27 Terrapin varsity sports.
Throughout his career, Galt has been extremely fortunate to employ
several superb assistants, including Evan Marcus, head strength coach at
the University of Virginia; Craig Fitzgerald, head strength coach at Penn State University; and Ray Wright, head strength coach of the Washington Redskins.
Galt and his wife, Janice, have been married for 33 years. They have four children: Angie, 29; Teri, 28; and 25-year-old twin sons, Dwight IV and Tommy.
Both daughters played intercollegiate sports: Angie as a softball catcher at Brown University; Teri as an all-conference soccer defender at Frostburg State (Md.). Both sons played football at Maryland and remain active in collegiate athletics: Dwight IV is a strength coach at Penn State; Tommy is an offensive graduate assistant at South Carolina.
