Strong men of the faith

After serving as a strength and conditioning coach for a total of 34 years, including 13 seasons at the NCAA level and 21 seasons in the NFL, Jerry Palmieri continues training daily – most importantly, in the form of spiritual conditioning. This includes sharing the gospel and discipling others, both on the field and outside of the arena.

Warming up
As a young man, Palmieri desired to be a teacher and a coach. He was motivated by a quote from the late evangelist Billy Graham: “One coach will impact more people in one year than the average person does in a lifetime.”
Hoping to mirror mentors in his own life, including his sister, Palmieri wanted to help young people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
An athlete himself, Palmieri knew the impact of coaches on his life. While attending Dumont High School in New Jersey, he began a career in amateur boxing and then won multiple Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight titles while in college. He competed as a semifinalist in the National Golden Gloves Tournament, placing fifth among light heavyweights. He went on to compete internationally.
After completing his undergraduate degree, Palmieri returned to graduate school and obtained a degree in exercise physiology from the University of North Carolina while serving as a part-time strength and conditioning coach. He was convinced that coaching would be his core profession because of the impact he could have on the lives of his athletes.
Palmieri remembered this phrase: “What a coach says, athletes will listen to.” That statement heightened the importance of his new role as a coach and gave meaning to what he was doing.
He also relied on the words from the apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4:8: “For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Palmieri knew that his coaching protocol could develop champions in the sport, but he also knew that the words he spoke would matter more, and his actions would speak just as loudly.

Building strength
Palmieri spoke into the lives of his athletes. Sometimes, this meant actions of care. Other times, this meant tough love and accountability – for himself and others. He was motivated by words that echoed from his past: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Accolades were not the goal for Palmieri. Day after day, he showed up and never hid his faith. His conversations – balanced, not overstepping – included God.
“I didn’t stand on a plyometric box with a Bible in one hand and a raised fist sharing the gospel in the other,” Palmieri told The Stand. “But Jesus was a part of my [daily] life. When you walk with Christ, in conversations – sooner or later – His name is going to come out.
“I often used the words ‘blessed’ and ‘thank God,’ and [I] shared my appreciation for what the Lord has done for my wife and me,” he added.
Before long, the athletes began to ask what it meant to be “blessed.”
That question, along with others, opened the door for Palmieri to share his faith through one-on-one conversations with the athletes. He followed their lead and asked if he could pray for them.
Palmieri continued impacting the lives of student-athletes as he furthered his career at Oklahoma State University, Kansas State University, and Boston College, before moving to the NFL in 1995. He spent 21 years in the NFL as a part of three different franchises, including 12 years as the strength and conditioning coach for the New York Giants. He was on staff during the Giants’ 2008 and 2012 Super Bowl championships.
Palmieri retired from the NFL in 2017, but he did not retire from his calling to share the gospel, disciple others, and continue his spiritual conditioning.

Maxing out
In 2025, Palmieri and his wife, Ellen, along with friends, joined an American Family Association Spiritual Heritage Tour to Greece to learn more about the apostle Paul – a hero of the Christian faith and an example to emulate. Though Palmieri had traveled thousands of miles to and from football stadiums during his coaching career, this destination was different. But he knew ample preparation and conditioning – both physically and spiritually – was needed to walk in the footsteps of Paul.
Palmieri dove into the Word and composed a Bible study covering Paul’s background, including his first and second missionary journeys. Palmieri, his wife, and their friends participated in the study before traveling, allowing for some elements to be discovered while on the tour.
However, Palmieri’s deep dive into Scripture was not just for this special travel occasion. He maintains an imperative discipline to have the Word of God in his life every day.
“The principles of God [have] become implanted in my life,” he explained. “[They have] become who I am.”
Spending time in God’s Word is not a task to check off on his daily to-do list. It is a discipline that has turned to a delight for Palmieri. Together, he and his wife have memorized numerous Psalms that they recite and pray on their daily walks together.
Palmieri also writes a daily devotional from his personal study time. He shares it via text with hundreds of acquaintances, friends, and family. Palmieri’s prayer is that as the devotional is shared, it will introduce people to the gospel, foster deep relationships, and unite believers. That is the example set forth by the apostle Paul, who modeled that there is strength in numbers and value in fellowship.