As the newly appointed Director of Sports Performance at the Gordon Institute, Robert Taylor oversees all aspects of the Sports Performance program at the Baltimore-based performance complex, encompassing the disciplines of Strength & Conditioning, Nutrition, VO2 Max, and Performance Evaluation and Training. Rob is also the founder and owner of SMARTER Team Training. STT has been developed to focus on athlete and team development, performance, and education.
Prior to coming to GISP, Taylor was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Loyola University Maryland for over seven years. Rob was a strength and conditioning consultant for athletes on the Women’s Lacrosse World Cup Champion’s Team Australia in 2005, and was the Head Strength Coach for Team Australia’s 2009 World Cup team which played in the world championship game also. He has worked with professional organizations such as the Anaheim Angels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Mutiny, and San Antonio Silver Stars.
Coach Taylor has also been the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at UNC Greensboro. He left to pursue a graduate degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Delaware, while working as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. Rob has also worked with the athletic department at Cincinnati, Princeton, and Villanova. At each of these institutions he has helped numerous athletes reach their dream of becoming professional athletes. Rob’s athletes have gone on to be drafted by the NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS, MLL, and NLL.
Taylor is certified through numerous national and international organizations. He is a Strength and Conditioning Certified Coach through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. Rob is recertified with distinction for both the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer certifications through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. In both 2009 and 2010, Taylor was a finalist for the NSCA College Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year award. He is also recognized by the National Strength Professionals Association as a Certified Conditioning Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer. Taylor is also the Maryland/DC State Director for the National Association of Speed and Explosion and is a Certified Speed and Explosion Specialist. Rob has also earned the Performance Enhancement Specialist and Corrective Exercise Specialist credentials through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Currently, Rob is preparing for the Certified Sports Nutritionist certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Coach Taylor has presented various components of the program he has developed at the NSCA Sport-Specific Conference and National Conference, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention, numerous NSCA Regional conferences, Team Australia Women’s Lacrosse Camps in Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia, England and Czech Republic, the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association’s national conference, the NC State University Basketball Specific Strength and Conditioning Symposium, the National Coaching Educators’ Conference, the PA Strength & Conditioning Clinic, plus the National Association of Speed and Explosion national conference, as well as many other locations. Rob also hosts Baltimore’s annual Strength and Conditioning/Athletic Development Conference in July and regional events around the country. For more information about STT’s programs, go to www.SMARTERTeamTraining.com.