AJ Middleton is in his first season as a football sports performance coach in 2021. He came to The Farm following five seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the BYU football program. At BYU, Middleton worked with the linebackers, tight ends and fullbacks. He also integrated freshmen and return missionaries into the team training structure. Middleton played a key role in the development of the 2020 team that finished the season ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25.
Before joining the Cougars in Provo, Middleton worked one season at UNLV after stints at USC and the University of Redlands strength and conditioning programs the two years prior. He was also an assistant track and field coach at the University of Puget Sound in 2013.
Middleton played football and competed in track and field at Puget Sound and was a first-team All-Northwest Conference honoree at nose tackle in 2008. He was also a two-time NWC champion in the shot put in 2006 and 2007.
He is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), NSCA Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC) and a Level 1 USAW Performance Coach.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology at Puget Sound in 2009 and then earned a master’s degree in management from Redlands in 2015. He is married to his college sweetheart, Jessica Scarsella, and the couple has one son, Maximillian.