Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball Alumnus Carl Kochan Joins Giants Major League Staff
11/07/2011 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Nov. 7, 2011
By Scott Gierman
SIUSalukis.com
Former SIU outfielder Carl Kochan has been named the major league strength and conditioning coordinator for the San Francisco Giants. He began working for the Giants organization in 2009 and was most recently the strength and conditioning coordinator for the Giants triple-A affiliate.
Kochan, who earned a degree in exercise science, said he owes a lot to his head coach at SIU, the late Dan Callahan, and current Head Coach Ken Henderson, who was an assistant coach during Kochan's time at SIU.
"I'm eternally grateful to both of those men," Kochan said, "not just for baseball but as human beings. I learned so much in terms of life lessons of how to conduct yourself on the field and off the field. I learned things that I have used and will continue to use in my daily life. I am so glad that I chose to play baseball at Southern Illinois, and I'm still proud to wear the Saluki maroon logo on my chest."
Kochan played two years for the Salukis, 1997 and 1998. Prior to joining the Giants organization, he spent a year with the Boston Red Sox organization and two years with the Seattle Mariners organization. Prior to that, he worked in the fitness industry.
"Carl is a very loyal Saluki alumnus and we are proud of his accomplishments," SIU Head Coach Ken Henderson said. "I know he has worked extremely hard and been very dedicated to the Giants organization, and it is a tremendous achievement for him to be promoted to the major league level. There is no doubt he will do a great job."
