JONESBORO, Ark. (6/22/17) – The Arkansas State Athletics Department announced Thursday that Kaz Kazadi, who has over 25 years of combined experience as a coach and player at the NFL and FBS levels, has been named Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Performance.
Kazadi will oversee A-State's entire athletics performance staff and program for all sports.
“We are excited and thrilled to have Kaz here working with our students during this time of growth for our athletics department,” said A-State Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir. “We believe his elite expertise will elevate our athletics performance program to desired outcomes.”
The 2013 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Strength Coach of the Year, Kazadi comes to A-State after most recently working with the Dallas Cowboys as an Assistant to the Strength Coach/Department during the 2017 offseason. It was his second NFL coaching stop, also spending 2005-07 as a Kansas City Chiefs Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach.
“Kaz has an outstanding background as a player and coach at multiple levels, including the NFL, and he will be a great addition to our staff,” said A-State head football coach Blake Anderson. “He has tremendous energy, is a great communicator and is on the cutting edge of training with the styles of offenses and defenses we're playing these days.”
Between his time with the Chiefs and Cowboys, Kazadi spent 2007-16 as a coach at the FBS level. He took his first full-time position in the college ranks at South Florida, where as assistant strength coach he helped develop a Bulls team that reached No. 2 in the wire service polls for one week, posted a 9-4 record and earned a bid to the Brut Sun Bowl.
Following his time at USF, Kazadi spent 2008-16 at Baylor in the strength and conditioning department, including his last five years as the Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Performance. In addition to his 2013 honor from the AFCA, he was also named FootballScoop.com's 2012 National Strength Coach of the Year.
“I am honored and privileged to get an opportunity to help Blake Anderson and the student-athletes at A-State,” said Kazadi. “This is a tremendous program, and they have an outstanding coaching staff. I can't wait to get started, and my family and I are excited to become part of the Red Wolves family.”
A standout linebacker at the University of Tulsa from 1992-97, Kazadi earned All-Western Athletic Conference honors for the Hurricane and was a Butkus Award semifinalist. He received his bachelor's degree from Tulsa in sociology with a psychology minor.
Drafted by the NFL's St. Louis Rams in 1997 after an All-American senior season which saw him earn a Fitness All-American Award, he played five years of pro ball, including stints in the Canadian Football League and the World Football League.
Following his professional playing career, Kazadi was a graduate assistant at the University of Missouri where he earned his master's degree from the school of education in counseling psychology with an emphasis in health promotion and sport psychology.
Kazadi holds numerous certifications and is a member of several associations, including the National Strength and Conditioning Association, USA Weightlifting, and Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He has made multiple presentations at the CSCCa National Conference and is on course to be named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the CSCCa in May of 2018. Kazadi has also been involved in community service projects such as “Feed My Starving Children,” “Yellow Stone Academy,” and “Big Brothers Big Sisters.”
A native of Zaire, Africa, Kazadi immigrated to the United States at age eight. His given name is Muadianvita Machkaz Kazadi (pronounced MA-jon-vee-tah ka-ZA-dee). He and his wife Monique have three children: Ra-sun, Isis and Rohon.
