Earl Chester Fuhrman is a strength and conditioning coach who has worked at the professional level with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL)'s

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He was the strength and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach for the

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They played their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The t ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He has also worked at the collegiate level and high school levels.

Early life

Fuhrman was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, where he attended John Harris High School (renamed Harrisburg High School in 1971). In high school, he participated in football and track and developed an interest in

weight training Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises ( ...

. He matriculated at the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with almost 13,000 students and approximately 430 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founded in ...

where he earned a degree in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

in 1973.

Coaching career

Fuhrman began his career as a strength coach and assistant

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach at his alma mater Harrisburg High School and then at Steelton-Highspire High School in his native Pennsylvania. In 1979, he took a position as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

(Penn State). Two years later, Fuhrman left Penn State to become the first head strength and conditioning coach at

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

. He returned to Penn State the following year when the head strength and conditioning coach position opened up there. He spent the next eleven years at Penn State where he coached such athletes as

Steve Wisniewski Steve Wisniewski (born April 7, 1967), nicknamed "the Wiz", is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Guard (gridiron football), guard for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Los Angel ...

, Blair Thomas,

Mike Munchak Michael Anthony Munchak (born March 5, 1960) is an American former professional football player and coach. After playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Munchak played as a guard for the Houston Oilers of the National Footb ...

and Andre Collins When Bill Cowher replaced

Chuck Noll Charles Henry Noll (January 5, 1932 – June 13, 2014) was an American professional football player and head coach. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, his sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the ...

as head coach of the

he brought in Fuhrman to replace Jon Kolb as the team's conditioning coordinator. In 2005, Fuhman was voted by his peers in the league as the NFL Strength Coach of the Year. The Steelers won the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

in the same season Fuhrman remained with the Steelers during Cowher's full tenure of fifteen seasons. He was not retained by new head coach

Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led t ...

in 2007. In 2009 Fuhrman became the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Avonworth School District which is just northwest of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He resigned from the position less than a year later. In May 2011, Furhman was hired as assistant coach for the UFL's

(formerly the

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

) under head coach and general manager

Marty Schottenheimer Martin Edward Schottenheimer (; September 23, 1943 – February 8, 2021) was an American professional football linebacker and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons. He was the head coach of the Cl ...

. He was responsible for coaching the team's tight ends as well as performing as the strength coach but retired after a single year of coaching. Furhman was a ninth grade football coaches at North Allegheny School District (Pittsburgh) in the 2015 season. He also is a substitute teacher at the North Allegheny schools.

Personal life

Fuhrman and his wife, Lisa, have three children — Erica, Michael, and Maria. He also has one grandchild — Giovanni Steele.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuhrman, Chet 1951 births American strength and conditioning coaches Living people Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Virginia Destroyers coaches University of Central Oklahoma alumni Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Weber State Wildcats football coaches