Sharks hire familiar face as new director of high performance

SAN JOSE — After two years with the Golden State Warriors, Mike Potenza is rejoining the San Jose Sharks, this time as the team’s director of high performance.

Per the Sharks, Potenza will oversee the strength and conditioning and nutrition staffs and serve as a liaison to the team’s medical training staff “to ensure a streamlined collaboration between the two departments, focusing on the Sharks player’s health, training, fitness, and rehabilitation programs.”

Potenza was the Sharks’ strength and conditioning coach from 2006 to 2022 before he left the organization to become the Warriors’ director of performance. In that role, he was responsible for the players’ training schedules, performance testing management, and implementation of player-specific training programs.

A 2000 Springfield College graduate, Potenza earned his Bachelor of Science degree in applied exercise science. From there, the Providence, R.I., native went to Boston University, where he was a graduate assistant until 2002, earning his master’s degree in human movement science.

The Sharks have still not announced a replacement for Ray Tufts, who was let go as the team’s head athletic trainer in April after more than two decades with the team.