Alumnus takes relational approach as strength, rehabilitation coach with New York Mets

Serving as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach for Liberty University’s Club Sports department while pursuing his M.S. in Kinesiology and Exercise Science equipped Cole Seaborn (’21, ’23) to launch his career in professional sports.

Seaborn is currently in his first season as an associate strength and conditioning/rehabilitation coach with the MLB’s New York Mets. He worked in similar roles for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars from 2023-24 and this past year with USA Volleyball’s national beach program based in Los Angeles.

At Liberty, the South Carolina native trained members of the Flames’ Division I, II, and III men’s hockey and Lady Flames’ DI and II women’s hockey teams as well as student-athletes from the taekwondo and triathlon teams.

“Working at Liberty gave me a well-rounded view of performance that helped develop what I would call my coaching eye,” Seaborn said. “Whether it’s football or baseball, you have to know the end goal — what you are trying to prepare athletes for — then how you reverse-engineer their training to prepare them for the demands of their sport.”

Club Sports Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Performance Chris Kerr said he immediately noticed Seaborn’s potential to thrive in the professional ranks.

“Certain people you can just tell are on a rocket ship trajectory … to make it to the highest level,” Kerr said. “With his work ethic and his hunger to learn, he is extremely talented at being able to adapt to multiple sports and to work effectively with all these different sports and coaches and athletes.”

A football player in high school, Seaborn’s passion for that sport carried into an internship with Clemson University’s football strength and conditioning staff in the 2021 season, which also helped open the door for his full-time job with the Jaguars.

“From connections I had with the Jaguars, I knew somebody on staff (in New York), and God sovereignly worked out the details,” he said. “I am super fortunate and thankful to be here.”

He hit the ground running with the Mets, joining the program and meeting its players during spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., from mid-February to mid-March.

Seaborn is part of a 15-member, full-performance staff for the major league team, including strength and rehabilitation coaches, athletic trainers, nutritionists, and sports scientists and psychologists.

“What makes our staff here very special is that it’s very, very collaborative,” he said. “That’s one of the things that drew me here. I am excited to see how we endure a really long season. It is necessary that you’re on the same page, and I am excited to see the fruits of that labor throughout the season. My one goal is that God would be glorified and this platform would be used for Him.”

Seaborn is relishing his rookie season training MLB players, which requires a completely different approach than his previous jobs.

“It is a long season, and it is a very performance-based sport. I am excited to prepare the guys to play for 162 games, which is a lot longer than football,” he said during spring training. “Obviously, football games are much harder on the body, and game-to-game demands are much different. In football, you are preparing to play a game every seven days, and you can ramp guys up and bring them down to peak from week to week. In baseball, physically you still have the same principles, but you have to apply them differently. From a conditioning perspective, they are not running as much. But whether it’s a pitcher or an outfielder, they have to be able to do frequent short, quick bursts and do them again and again.”

Since his time with the Jaguars, Seaborn has been drawn to the rehabilitation side of strength and conditioning.

“I knew I wanted to get into the rehab space, which is super valuable in our field,” he said. “The goal from a performance perspective is that you would have nobody on injured reserve.”

Seaborn does not regularly travel with the team but stays back to work directly with those inactive players.

“Any guys that get injured and will stay in New York, my responsibility is to train them back to health,” he said. “They get a lot more one-on-one care to expedite their return to play as quickly as possible, so they can help the team win games.”

But the rehabilitation responsibilities allow Seaborn to develop and nurture relationships with players.

“From a spiritual perspective, I get to meet guys when they’re low, going through hard times, and I get to serve them in a Christ-like manner that will then create an opportunity to share where our hope comes from.”

Seaborn, who earned a B.A. in Religious Studies and New Testament from Liberty, said he was inspired by a speaker at the university’s Global Focus Week, Mike Taylor, vice president of mobilization for Greater Europe Mission (GEM), who preached a message about the Gospel moving at the speed of relationships.

“The more relationships you can build and the deeper they are, the more you can grow (in influence),” Seaborn said. “Starting in Jacksonville, that side really accelerated while working with USA Volleyball, where I was able to build relationships more as I moved up through the organization. I really found a passion for those moments of being able to apply exercise science knowledge and to apply biblical principles.”

He said his favorite part of his job is offering encouragement and edification through the rehabilitation process.

“That is why I love working in performance, instilling the discipline that leads to growth,” Seaborn said. “It may feel like they’re being torn down, but God uses those moments to build us up.”

He is excited to help advance the faith culture within the Mets program, starting in the strength room.

“It has been cool to see the Lord answer prayers for Christian community in the clubhouse, and I have had some great conversations with guys over the last couple of weeks,” Seaborn said. “I am grateful to use my platform to shine a light, so that they would see Jesus in my own life and that those relationships would be leveraged for the Gospel.”

Kerr said Seaborn is using his giftings to bring out the best in the Mets’ players while giving glory to God.

“When he realized that he could combine his faith and his studies in theology into the weight room, it became his hobby, his passion. …. He’s able to develop relationships with people beyond the superficial level. Not only is Cole great at getting the most out of the athlete from a performance perspective, but because of his education, he can meet them as a person, and that goes a long way toward making an eternal impact.”

Seaborn credits Kerr and Club Sports Athletic Director and Division I men’s hockey Head Coach Kirk Handy for developing his professional acumen and shaping his Christ-like character. He connects with Handy weekly to exchange prayer requests.

“Kirk works at a high level and has prepared me well,” Seaborn said. “I don’t know if I’ve been around someone who manages people in relationships with an ultimate Gospel perspective as well as he does. He loves people really well, and his relationships are a reflection of his love for and relationship with Jesus.”