A.J. Artis is in his fourth season as director of football strength and performance at Georgia Tech.
Widely regarded as one of the nation's best strength and conditioning coaches, Artis has played a major role in Georgia Tech's rise during head coach Brent Key's three full seasons as head coach.
During Artis's time on The Flats, not only have the Yellow Jackets made three-straight bowl appearances for the first time since 2012-14 and been the only team to finish in the top four of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings each season, but he has been integral to the development of four National Football League draft picks, all in the trenches -- TE Jackson Hawes and DL Zeek Biggers in 2025 and OL Keylan Rutledge and DL Jordan van den Berg in 2026. Rutledge became Georgia Tech's first first-round NFL Draft pick since 2010 and the Jackets' highest-selected offensive lineman since 1979 when the Houston Texans chose him with the 26th overall pick in the 2006 draft.
Artis compiled four years of experience as a director of football strength and conditioning at the NCAA Division I FBS level before the age of 30. He came to Tech after serving as the director of football strength and conditioning at USF in 2021 and 2022 and as the director of football sports performance at Tennessee in 2020.
Prior to his ascension to the top spot at Tennessee, Artis served as assistant director of football sports performance at UT for two seasons (2018 and 2019) under then-director Craig Fitzgerald. Artis was promoted to lead the Vols’ strength and conditioning efforts following Fitzgerald’s departure to the National Football League’s New York Giants.
Before his arrival at Tennessee, Artis spent two years on the strength and conditioning staff at Duke (2016-17). With the Blue Devils, Artis worked directly with football, which won the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl and included future first-round NFL draft pick Daniel Jones, and field hockey, which was ranked among the top-five nationally throughout the 2016 campaign.
Artis began his career with one-year stints as a graduate assistant at Appalachian State (2015-16) and an intern at his alma mater, Campbell (2014-15). While working with the football program at App State, the Mountaineers became the first team to ever win a bowl game in its first year of FBS eligibility in 2015. He also oversaw strength and conditioning for Appalachian’s field hockey and golf programs. He worked with a slew of teams as an intern at Campbell, including football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball.
Artis was a three-year football letterwinner at Campbell from 2012-14, beginning as a wide receiver before moving to tight end for his final two seasons. A three-year member of Campbell’s academic honor roll, he earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2015. He went on to earn a master’s in exercise science from Appalachian State in 2017. He and his wife, D Janelle, have three daughters – Amoura, Alianna and Ariza.