CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns named Shaun Huls the team’s new director of high performance Monday.
Huls, who spent the last seven years with the Philadelphia Eagles in the same role, was hired during the NFL Combine.
“Does the profession pick you or do you pick your profession? I have always been involved with it, even as a young kid,” Huls, who has nearly 25 years of experience in the field, said. “I was kind of always hyper-active in this area and read a lot about it. Then when I got to college, it seemed like a natural fit. I volunteered in the weight room there and never left.”
Browns executive vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry got a first-hand look at Huls’ work last year in Philadelphia, where the Eagles made the playoffs after a 9-7 season.
“Athletes, in general, are more frequently at this point going externally for areas that can give them individualized care in all of these areas,” Berry said. “As an organization, we're trying to do the best in those spaces, whether it's a medical space or a high performance space, that ensures our players have world-class care here in Cleveland.”
Huls will oversee strength and conditioning, sports science, nutrition and player development for the Browns under head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“There are a number of areas, whether it's strength and conditioning, nutrition, player loading, neuroscience, where you can push on those areas for a competitive advantage,” Berry said. “Shaun, given his background, just has a breadth of expertise in all of those domains. He's a data-driven thinker, really progressive mindset and, most importantly, always has the players' interest first.”
Prior to joining the Eagles, Huls served as the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, strength and conditioning and injury prevention programs coordinator and U.S. Naval Special Warfare, head strength and conditioning coach and combative coordinator from 2006-2013.
“When you are embedded with groups like that, you form super tight bonds with them. You want to help them in any way you can,” Huls said. “You are always on the lookout for the next greatest thing that can help them.
“Just that curiosity and drive to help people is probably something that I innately always kind of had but then was amplified at the Seal team. That is something I have always carried with me for the rest of my life. Just being around those types of people and wanting to associate with those types of people.”
