University of South Dakota Athletics

Chad Traver was added to Travis Johansen's staff as the program's Director of Football Sports Performance in February 2025. He will oversee the strength and conditioning of Coyote football student-athletes. 

Traver comes to Vermillion after a season at the University of Wyoming, where he served as the Associate Head Sports Performance Coach for the Cowboy football program. At Wyoming, he was actively involved in every aspect of managing and implementing a comprehensive program to serve the football program.

In his strength and conditioning career, Traver has three stops at then Power 5 institutions at Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Washington State.
 
After completing professional internships, Traver would be on staff at Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Washington State for different segments, mainly working with football programs.
 
In 2015, Traver took his first Division I job at the University of Southern Mississippi where he oversaw the Coliseum and was responsible for the development of Golden Eagle men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball.
 
Making the jump to Division I as a volunteer assistant at Washington State, Traver worked with different Cougar student-athletes in 2014. He would then move to a similar role in the SEC at Ole Miss, before returning back to Washington State.
 
He began his strength coaching career at the University of Louisiana at Monroe as a graduate assistant for the 2008-09 academic year. Moving back to the Midwest, Traver first full-time roles were at Augustana (S.D.) and Morningside (Iowa) from 2010-14.
 
Traver is a 2008 graduate of the University of Sioux Falls with a degree in exercise science. In 2010, he earned his master's degree in applied exercise physiology from the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
 
Traver and his wife, Manda, and their son Tate joined the program in the winter of 2025.