TJ Conley joined the EWU staff as a graduate assistant in 2018 before taking on a full-time position as assistant performance coach for basketball in 2019. He was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Performance prior to the 2021-22 academic year and oversees the athletic performance staff. Conley continues to work heavily with the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
He is a 2004 graduate of DeSales High School in Walla Walla, Wash., where he was a three-sport All-State athlete (football, basketball, & baseball), and then played football at Idaho as a punter. He spent six seasons with three National Football League teams from 2009-14, including his first four years with the New York Jets where he broke a franchise record for net punting and led the NFL in fair catches in 2011. While he was with the Jets, he did an internship with the team’s strength and conditioning department.
Conley also spent 2.5 years working part-time at U-District Physical Therapy in Spokane, while coaching kickers, punters and long snappers at Whitworth from May 2016 to August 2018. He also was a strength and conditioning coach at Gonzaga from August 2017 to June 2018 before joining EWU in August 2018.
Conley graduated from Idaho in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He added a certification as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association 2014 and then a master's degree in physical education from Eastern in 2020. Additionally, in 2023, T.J. studied to be a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) and is now well qualified to provide mental skills coaching to Eastern's student-athletes. He and his wife, Tassie, have two children, Brayden and McKenzie.
