Cardinals Hire Kent, Honeycutt To Fill Football Strength Vacancies
July 21, 2000 | Football
February 10, 2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville head football coach John L. Smith announced today the hiring of Mike Kent as strength and conditioning coach and Darren Honeycutt as assistant strength and conditioning coach. Kent and Honeycutt replace Rock Gullickson and Evan Marcus who accepted similar positions with the New Orleans Saints less than a week ago.
"We're excited to have Mike and Darren join our program," said Smith. "Both have impressive resumes and are enthusiastic about getting in here as quickly as possible and helping us become a better football team."
Kent and Honeycutt are expected to assume their duties Monday, Feb. 14.
Kent joins the U of L staff after one season as the strength and conditioning coordinator at Eastern Kentucky University where he was responsible for the training of 16 intercollegiate sports.
Prior to his brief stay in Richmond, Ky., Kent spent nine seasons (1990-1998) at Appalachian State coordinating the strength and conditioning of 18 intercollegiate sports.
Owner of a master's degree from North Carolina State, Kent opened his collegiate coaching career in 1985 as a graduate assistant for the Wolfpack through the 1987 season.
Stints at Shepherd (WV) College and East Carolina University preceded his time at Appalachian State.
Kent earned Southern Conference Strength Coach of the Year honors in 1995 and helped the Mountaineers to five Division I-AA playoff appearances in his nine seasons.
Honeycutt joins the Cardinals staff after four seasons as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Baylor University. Prior to his stint with the Bears, Honeycutt spent two seasons at Texas Tech in a similar position.
Honeycutt is no stranger to Kent serving as his graduate assistant at Appalachian State from 1991-93 and remaining as a full-time assistant through the 1993 season. He earned a master's degree in exercise science from ASU in 1994.
A 1991 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, Honeycutt played four seasons of football for the Bears.
