A veteran of the strength & conditioning industry for more than 25 years and a veteran of the UTSA Sports Performance staff since 2024, Jared Ka’aiohelo was promoted to Director of Sports Performance for Football in Spring 2026.
Ka’aiohelo (kah-ah-eye-oh-heh-loh) has been working directly with the football program since his arrival in San Antonio. With his current role, he oversees all aspects of the football sports performance department.
Prior to arriving at UTSA, he was the head football strength & conditioning coach at Central Oklahoma from 2021 to 2023, marking his second stint with that department.
Ka’aiohelo was the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance at Rice in 2009-13. During his time at Rice, the Owls football program won the 2013 Conference USA Championship and the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl. He helped develop several NFL players, including Chris Boswell, Bryce Callahan, Christian Covington, Cheta Ozougwa, Vance McDonald, Phillip Gaines, Andrew Sendejo, Scott Solomon, Jordan Taylor and Luke Willson.
He got his start in the industry as a strength & conditioning assistant at Oklahoma in 1999-2000 before becoming the head strength & conditioning coach at Central Oklahoma in 2003, serving in that role until he joined the Kansas staff as assistant football strength & conditioning coach from 2007 to 2009. During his time in Lawrence, the Jayhawks won the 2007 Orange Bowl and the 2008 Insight Bowl.
Ka’aiohelo was a former running back for Arkansas (1990-92) and Missouri Southern State (1993-94), where he helped the Lions to the 1993 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Championship. He played professionally for the Houston Oilers in 1995, the Indianapolis Colts in 1997 and overseas with the Scottish Claymores, where he helped the team win the 1996 World Bowl Championship.
From 2014 to 2021, Ka’aiohelo owned and directed a private strength & conditioning business. There, he helped train 11 future NFL Draft picks, including four first-round selections. His clients went on to win three Super Bowls and earn a pair of Pro Bowl selections.
Ka’aiohelo is a member of the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association, the American Football Coaches Association and the Polynesian Coaches Association. He is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCCA) and a Certified United States of America Weightlifting Club Coach (USAW – CC).