Evan Barr - Director of Strength & Conditioning - Football Support Staff

Evan Barr

Title:
Director of Strength & Conditioning
Alma Mater:
Tennessee, 2011
Office Phone:
(478) 301-2843
Email:
barr_ed@mercer.edu

Having blazed several pathways to success throughout his 17-year career in collegiate athletics, Evan Barr begins his fourth season with the Bears in 2025-26 as the Director of Strength & Conditioning. Barr, who also serves a dual role as part of the athletics department’s leadership team, officially joined the Mercer family in July 2021.

Barr has been at the forefront in the development of 88 all-conference selections in football alone, including a pair of conference player of the year honorees. His list of success also includes 19 all-Americans and five players that have gone on to make opening-day rosters of National Football League (NFL) organizations, including an NFL Draft selection. His former mentees have also logged a pair of Super Bowl appearances.

While providing oversight to the strength & conditioning programs for all 17 of Mercer’s varsity athletic sports, Barr has played a particularly integral role for the football program since arriving on campus. The Orange & Black has rattled off nearly 35 wins across the last four seasons, while also finishing among the nation’s top 25 teams to cap the 2022, 2023 and 2024 campaigns. Mercer earned its first berth into the NCAA FCS Playoffs to highlight a 9-win season in 2022, and tacked up a program-best 11 victories in 2024 on the way to producing the program’s first-ever conference crown, as well as a run to the NCAA FCS Quarterfinals.

Prior to trekking to Middle Georgia, Barr served as the Director of Strength & Conditioning at fellow Southern Conference institution Western Carolina for eight years (2013-20) where he primarily worked with the Catamounts football program, while also overseeing the strength & conditioning efforts of WCU’s 16 other varsity sports. The football program compiled just nine wins in the 5-year span prior to Barr’s arrival, but saw instant success under his leadership, including consecutive top-3 finishes in the always-tough Southern Conference in 2014 and 2015.

Barr began his career as a strength & conditioning professional with internships at both Tennessee (2010-11) and Furman (2011) before diving into a role as the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Performance QSA, a unique sports performance institute based in Greenville, S.C., that focused on speed and movement training enhancing all areas of athletic performance.

The Madisonville, Tenn., native transitioned back into college athletics in 2012 when he was tabbed as the strength & conditioning coach at Reinhardt just in time for the first season of intercollegiate football for the northwest Georgia school.

Barr earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Tennessee in 2011 after playing two seasons as a walk-on with the Volunteers football program under head coach Phillip Fulmer. He was recently decorated as a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association, and is also certified as a strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Evan and his wife, Rebecca, are the proud parents of three children – James, Layla and Ava.

THE BARR FILE
Coaching Experience
2010-11	Tennessee (Strength & Conditioning Intern)
2011	Furman (Strength & Conditioning Intern)
2012	Performance QSA (Director of Strength & Conditioning)
2012	Reinhardt (Director of Strength & Conditioning)
2013-20	Western Carolina (Director of Strength & Conditioning)
2021-Present	Mercer (Director of Strength & Conditioning)

Education
Bachelor's degree in exercise science (Tennessee, 2011).

Family
Wife, Rebecca, and three children - James, Layla and Ava