Published: January 25, 2008 11:44 pm         

Joseph expected to be hired by Stewart

MORGANTOWN — Mike Joseph is expected to be named by West Virginia University as director of its strength and conditioning program, it was learned Friday.

The Fairmont native is in his fourth year as assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Notre Dame.

He would replace Mike Barwis, who resigned last month after being part of the strength and conditioning program for 14 years. He’s now at the University of Michigan.

Joseph, who’s in his 30s, has a bachelor’s degree from Fairmont State University and a master’s degree from WVU.

He is expected to focus mainly on football and basketball, as Barwis did. At Notre Dame, he has been working mainly with football. But he’s also responsible for strength and conditioning programs for baseball, women’s volleyball and softball.

Prior to going to South Bend, Joseph spent two years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Eastern Michigan University. There he was responsible for the programs in men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, volleyball and wrestling and also was an assistant in football.

Joseph was a graduate assistant at WVU for two years. In that role, he worked with football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball.

From 1994-97, he was an outstanding running back and long snapper for the Fairmont State Falcons and the school’s all-time leading scorer. He rushed for a career 3,095 yards and caught 171 passes for 1,707 yards.

He scored 57 touchdowns and seven two-point conversions for a total of 356 career points. That’s the same number Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett had at the University of Pittsburgh (1973-76).

Joseph was a two-time All-West Virginia Conference selection and in 1996 was the league’s offensive player of the year. He had rushed for 1,306 yards and scored 144 points to lead the Falcons to the conference championship that season.

He is certified by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (ESCCA) and the National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA).