Ben Herbert enters his third season in 2026 as executive director of player performance with the Chargers. In the role, he oversees all aspects of player performance and the physiological development of the roster, as well as all curates strength and conditioning regimens for each athletes.
Herbert joined the Bolts after a six-season tenure (2018-23) as director of strength and conditioning at the University of Michigan under Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. In 2023, Herbert added associate head coach responsibilities, helping the Wolverines to a perfect 15-0 record en route to winning their third-straight Big Ten Title and the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Over 22 years in college football, Herbert helped develop and produce 126 eventual NFL Draft picks, including 13 first-round selections, as well as players who were named finalists for the Heisman Trophy. 81 of his student-athletes earned first-team All-Conference honors, while 49 were named All-Americans.
During his time in Ann Arbor, Mich., Herbert trained and developed 56 eventual NFL Draft choices, including 11 that were taken in the first round. He helped structure and connect an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award, an honor given annually to the best offensive line unit in college football, in 2021 and 2022 — the first back-to-back winner in the award's history. The Wolverines won the Big Ten Championship in each of Herbert's final three seasons at Michigan, with the latter two featuring College Football Playoff appearances and the 2023 season culminating with a CFP National Championship Game win over Washington.
Prior to Michigan, Herbert was the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Arkansas, tutoring a pair of first-team All-Americans and 14 All-Southeastern Conference selections. In total, 17 Razorbacks were selected in the NFL Draft during his tenure.
Herbert began his coaching career at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, where he rose up the ranks over 11 seasons. He was an intern in 2002 before being added to the full-time staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2003, serving in that role for six seasons. Herbert then was promoted to head strength and conditioning coach for the Badgers in 2009, working as a key figure in Wisconsin's player performance for four years. He directed a strength and conditioning staff that helped the Badgers claim three consecutive Big Ten Championships during his tenure (2010-12).
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Herbert was a four-year letter-winning defensive lineman at Wisconsin (1998-2001). A two-time Rose Bowl champion with the Badgers, Herbert's two sacks in the 2000 Rose Bowl Game tied the program record for most sacks in a bowl game.
In 2015, Herbert was named Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, becoming the youngest coach to ever earn the honor (35 years old).
Herbert and his wife, Kelly, have two children, Charlie and Thomas.
