Shane Davenport enters his first year as the Director of Sport Performance and Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for Holy Cross football in 2025. In his role, Davenport will also serve as the NFL liaison for Crusader football.
Davenport most recently served as the Director of Football Performance at Lafayette since 2022. In that role, he oversaw all aspects of physical preparation including speed development and strength and conditioning. He helped guide the Leopards to a share of the 2023 Patriot League title and NCAA berth, with the Leopards earning their most wins (9-3) in 40 seasons and jumping into the top 25 rankings nationally.
"Coach Davenport is one of the top sports performance coaches in all of New England," said Holy Cross head coach Dan Curran. "He has trained and developed more than 25 college athletes that have signed NFL contracts, and was the driving force behind Lafayette College's most recent Patriot League Championship. He also does a tremendous job of developing a strong rapport and connection with all the athletes, and we couldn't be more excited to have him join the Holy Cross football family."
Prior to his time with the Leopards, Davenport owned and operated Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness, a private facility in Westborough, Mass., where he was the director of performance for thousands of high school, college and professional athletes since 2012. He specialized in preparing college and professional football athletes for their respective seasons, and additional for the NFL Combine and Pro Days. Davenport has helped more than 25 college athletes who signed NFL contracts, including two Pro Bowlers.
During his time at Exceed, Davenport also oversaw the University of Santa Clara's Baseball Performance program as its director. He was in charge of all assessments and programming for the entire roster as well as working directly with sports medicine to manage athletes while in their return-to-play protocols. He worked privately with several of those athletes following their time at Santa Clara, all of whom went on to pitch in minor league baseball and in the major leagues.
Before opening Exceed, Davenport served as the director of performance for Teamworks Fitness (formerly known as CATZ) in Acton, Mass., where he interned and then worked from 2005-12. Similar to Exceed, Davenport worked with high school and college athletes as well as younger athletes and active adults.
Davenport holds certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS), Catalyst Athletics (Certified Weightlifting Coach), Aaron Brooks Perfect Postures (PP Level 1,2,3), Joel Jamieson's BioForce (Certified HRV Pro Trainer and Certified BioForce Conditioning Coach) as well as the Functional Movement Screen (FMS Certified).
Davenport also holds a U.S. Utility and Design Patent on a piece of training and testing technology called The IsoDyn, which allows coaches to more accurately, efficiently and safely test their athletes' force and jump metrics on force plates. He and his business partner created The IsoDyn as a solution to a problem regarding the standard method of testing lower body force. More than 20 teams from all major pro sports leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS) and a number of college programs have become customers and use The IsoDyn in their assessment and training protocols.
Davenport has presented nationally and internationally and has consulted for college and professional teams across the country. He has consulted and worked on projects for fitness and wellness publications, such as Men's Health, and has authored or co-authored more than 20 articles for online performance websites. Additionally, Davenport helped create a revolutionary method of testing for baseball showcases and currently advises Pelotero (baseball software) and New Balance Future Stars Series on their systems.
The Shirley, Mass. native is a 2006 graduate of Lafayette, where he was a four-year member of the football program that captured Patriot League championships in 2004 and 2005.
