Dave Andrews

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell announced today that Dave Andrews, one of the most revered football strength and conditioning coaches in the nation, will join the Cyclone staff as Director of Football Strength and Conditioning.

Andrews’ official start date is pending successful background checks.

Campbell added one of the most respected strength and conditioning experts nationally in Andrews, who spent the last five years as the head strength and conditioning football coach at Pittsburgh. He replaces Rudy Wade, whose contract was not renewed.

“Dave is one of the best strength and conditioning practitioners in the country,” Campbell said. “His reputation in the profession is impeccable. He has outstanding leadership qualities and the proven ability to train athletes into peak performers. There is no doubt that Dave will make an impact on our student-athletes.”

Andrews joined the Pittsburgh staff in 2015 and his leadership in the weight room was a crucial factor in the Panthers’ rise in the ACC. Pitt played in four bowl games in his five seasons and the Panthers achieved the third-winningest conference record among the 14 ACC football schools during his five-year tenure.

The Panthers are coming off an 8-5 season and a victory over Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl in 2019.

In 2018, the Panthers won the ACC Coastal Division championship. Andrews had his players in prime physical condition, helping the team record four second-half come-from-behind victories.

Pitt players bought into Andrews’ training regimens, and during the offseason, a large group of former Panthers in the NFL trained under his guidance, including two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.

Andrews’ strong resume consists of 16 years of experience developing football players as a sports performance specialist. He also worked at Notre Dame (2014), Illinois (2012-13) and Cincinnati (2005-11).

Andrews graduated from Ohio State in 2004 and was a member of the Buckeyes’ 2002 National Championship squad as a tight end. He also owns a master’s degree from Cincinnati.

Andrews is a certified strength and conditioning coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA) and USA Weightlifting (USAW) as a level one sports performance coach.

ST. LOUIS, MO., January 9, 2020 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced a four-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays this evening, acquiring top pitching prospect lefty Matthew Liberatore, minor league catcher Edgardo Rodriguez and the Rays Compensation B draft pick (66th overall), in exchange for outfielders Randy Arozarena, Josè Martínez and the Cardinals Compensation A draft pick (38th overall).

“We are extremely excited to be adding a top pitching prospect in Matthew Liberatore to our organization, and this trade also helps us to create more opportunity in the outfield for players like Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas and others,” stated Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak.

Liberatore, 20, was the Rays 1st round draft pick in 2018 (16th player overall) out of Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Ariz., and is ranked as the no. 3 prospect in the Rays system.

The 6-5, 200-pound Liberatore has compiled an 8-4 mark with a 2.59 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) in the minors, striking out 113 batters in 111.0 innings pitched, allowing just two home runs to go along with a 1.22 WHIP and .224 opponent’s batting average. Liberatore was 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) for Bowling Green of the Midwest League (A) this past season.

Liberatore went 8-1 with a 0.93 ERA and 104 strikeouts as a senior at Mountain Ridge High School and was Arizona’s Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. He was named a first-team Rawlings/Perfect Game All-American, and helped lead Mountain Ridge to the Class 6A state championship game.   In 2017, Liberatore pitched 12 scoreless innings for USA Baseball’s 18U National Team and recorded the win in its gold medal game victory over Korea, and in the 2017 Under Armour All-America Game he threw scoreless 9th, 10th and 11th innings for the American League to get the win and earn Most Valuable Player honors.

The Rays selected Liberatore higher than any other high school pitcher in club history, and he became the fourth high school pitcher selected by the Rays in the first round, following Jason Standridge (No. 31) in 1997, Taylor Guerrieri (No. 24) in 2011 and Blake Snell (No. 52) in 2011.

Rodriguez, 19, a right-handed hitting catcher from Valencia, Venezuela, was signed by the Rays as an international free agent in July of 2017.   The 6-0, 205-pound Rodriguez has produced a .338 batting average, six home runs and 40 RBI in his first two seasons as a professional.   He batted .330 with 6 HR’s and 34 RBI in 51 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2018, ranking among the Rays minor league leaders in batting (3rd), slugging (.492, 6th) and on-base pct. (.384, 9th).  In limited action with the GCL Rays, he batted .400 in 2019.

Today’s trade reduces the Cardinals current 40-man Major League roster to 38 players.