Baton Rouge Native Michael Chatman returns home to accept Strength & Conditioning Coach position at LSU

Matt McMahon against Alabama on February 12, 2024
LSU basketball head coach Matt McMahon opens his third season tonight in an exhibition vs. Loyola of New Orleans. (Photo By Michael Bacigalupi).

LSU men’s basketball coach Matt McMahon has brought another important piece of the LSU Basketball program back to Louisiana with the announcement that Baton Rouge native Michael Chatman will be the head men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach for the Tigers.

Chatman has served for the past five seasons as the Sports Performance Coach for the men’s basketball team at Stanford.

The native of Baton Rouge graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a degree in applied science and earned his master’s degree in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania.

“We are excited to welcome Mike Chatman to LSU as our head strength and conditioning coach,” said Coach McMahon. “Coach Chatman is well-respected in the profession for his ability to develop players, lead and build teams, and impact winning. He has coached multiple NBA draft picks and will be instrumental in our player development program. We can’t wait for him to get started in Baton Rouge.”

Early in his career, Chatman served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for a little over a year at Southern University of Baton Rouge and then spent a year-and-a-half working for legendary coach Gayle Hatch’s weightlifting program as assistant strength coach.

He has spent time at Michigan, Texas and Penn State before being named the Director of Basketball Performance in 2016 at Southern Mississippi. In 2017, he moved to Towson where he was the Assistant Athletic Director of Strength and Conditioning at Towson.

In 2019 he was named to the staff at Stanford.

He is known, among other things, for his development of movement and mobility protocols and has also worked with team nutritionists and athletic trainers. In working with various sports he has stressed life lessons and etiquette importance in teaching skills beyond the weight room. He works with his student-athletes to go the extra mile, both inside and outside the weight room.

Chatman is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, practicing as a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Chatman has a sports performance certification from USA Weightlifting, is a Certified Level I of Functional Movement Screen, a performance enhancement specialist for the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a certified specialist in speed and explosion of the National Association of Speed and Explosion. Chatman is also CPR certified by the American Red Cross.

The hiring is pending the completion of the standard background check and approval by the LSU Board of Supervisors.

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