Yancy McKnight
Director of Strength and Conditioning

Yancy McKnight, who as assistant athletics director for performance enhancement at Rice played a key role in the national emergence of Owl football over the last three seasons, joined the Iowa State football staff as head strength and conditioning coach in February.

McKnight has worked under some of football’s most successful and innovative coaches, including Les Miles of LSU, Todd Graham of Tulsa and David Bailiff of Rice. McKnight has worked with a number of current NFL players, including running back Tatum Bell of the Denver Broncos, defensive tackle Kevin Williams of the Minnesota Vikings, defensive end Antonio Smith of the Arizona Cardinals, tight end Billy Bajema of the San Francisco 49ers and offensive lineman Charlie Johnson of the Indianapolis Colts.

McKnight came to Rice in 2006 and was continuously credited by the players as a key component in the Owls’ magical run to a bowl game. In 2008, Rice posted one of its best seasons in school history, compiling a 10-3 mark, including a 38-14 win over Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl. McKnight served on the same Rice staff with new Iowa State offensive coordinator Tom Herman.

The 2006 Owls showed a level of endurance that allowed them to battle back and win three times on the last offensive play of the game, due in large part to McKnight’s conditioning and strength retention programs. Again in 2007, the Owls proved to be a formidable opponent throughout each game, winning a pair of games on their last possession. In 2008, the conditioning of the Rice players was key in the Owls’ drive to being named West Division co-champions of Conference USA.

In addition to his work with the football team, McKnight supervised a staff of assistants who worked with all the Owls’ student-athletes. He also oversaw the design and scope of the new conditioning facilities in the renovated Autry Court complex that will open this year.

McKnight is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), a certified strength and conditioning coach (SCCC), and a USA Weightlifting Level I certified coach.

He is married to the former Lynn Karns and they are the parents of sons, Brody and Brock.

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Clayton Oyster
Strength and Conditioning

Iowa State hired Clayton Oyster of Rice as the Cyclones’ assistant strength and conditioning football coach in February of 2009. Oyster played a major role in developing the strength and conditioning for Iowa State football installed  by Yancy McKnight, now ISU’s director of strength and conditioning for football. Before coming to Ames, Oyster worked under McKnight at Rice.

At Rice, Oyster designed and implemented comprehensive year-round speed, strength and conditioning programs for baseball and assisted in the same role for the Owl football program. Oyster was on the staff of three Rice teams that qualified for the College World Series. The Owl football team went to two bowl games while Oyster was at Rice. Oyster worked two years as a full-time member of the Owls strength and conditioning team after spending a year as a volunteer assistant.

Oyster worked with the Owls’ golf, volleyball and women’s basketball teams in addition to assisting with football. A 2002 graduate of Otterbein (Ohio) College, Oyster began his coaching career at Gahanna High School in Columbus, Ohio. He also worked as a Co-Director of Strength and Conditioning for Performance One Athletic Development in Columbus and as a Sports Performance Coach for Velocity Sports Performance in Houston.

He is certified by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and by USA Weightlifting as a Level 1 Club Coach (USAW). He earned a master’s degree in kinesiology at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in 2005.