The BYU Cougars football program announced an interesting new member of its coaching staff on Thursday afternoon.

Nate Pototschnik has been hired as the program’s associate director of strength and conditioning. Pototschnik arrives at BYU after being a coach under former Cougar football leader Bronco Mendenhall at two different locations, as well as in the United States Army for over 10 years.

Pototschnik was most recently the director of athletic performance for the New Mexico football program last season under Mendenhall. Prior to that, he spent eight seasons at Virginia in the football program’s strength and conditioning department, the first six of which were under Mendenhall before Mendenhall took a two-year hiatus from coaching before the 2024 season.

Prior to Pototschnik’s time at Virginia, he spent more 10 years in the Army, from 2006-2016. According to his bio on the New Mexico football website, he was last stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

His nickname is “Blackjack,” in reference to the callsign of the unit he commanded at Pearl Harbor, according to his UNM bio.

A 2006 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Pototschnik obtained a master’s degree at Virginia in his first two years working there under Mendenhall.

Mendenhall, who is now the head football coach of the Utah State Aggies, hired Kody Cooke from Tulsa to be the Aggies’ new head strength and conditioning coach.