McKenney enters his seventh season with the Colts and his fourth as applied sports science/conditioning. He served as assistant strength and conditioning coach with the team for three seasons (2018-20). McKenney has over 30 years of coaching experience in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres (1995-2015), Hartford Whalers (1989-1995) and Pittsburgh Penguins (1985-89).
McKenney is responsible for assisting in all aspects of the club's conditioning program. He helped implement a new strength and conditioning program during the 2018 offseason that focused on designing specific nutritional and workout programs for each individual player on the roster to maximize their performance while maintaining year-round health. The program took nutrition and body composition down to an applicable level and was based on what players do at their position.
McKenney helped Indianapolis reach the playoffs in 2018 and 2020.
In 2018, McKenney was part of a Colts team that finished with a 10-6 regular season record, won in the AFC Wild Card Round and had an appearance in the AFC Divisional Round. Indianapolis became the third team in NFL history to start a season 1-5 and make the playoffs. Additionally, the Colts were the second team in NFL history to start a season 1-5 and win a playoff game.
Prior to Indianapolis, McKenney served as a founding coach/sports performance specialist – strength & conditioning coach at CoachMePlus. He worked with sports performance programs across the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA and NCAA to discuss their programs and offer advice.
During his NHL coaching career, McKenney employed player-tracking systems, utilizing the most advanced devices available for measuring mechanical and physiological data to create highly-individualized programs for each athlete. His player tracking systems steadily evolved from manual data entry and analysis in the early years, to a sophisticated mobile platform. In 2011, McKenney worked with M2Synergies to develop the software necessary to transform the delivery of his programs from a website format to an early rendition of what eventually was developed into the CoachMePlus system.
In July of 1995, McKenney was named the first-ever head strength & conditioning coach of the Buffalo Sabres and held that position until 2015. He was responsible for designing and implementing individualized strength and conditioning programs for the NHL club, the AHL affiliate, Rochester Americans, and Sabres' prospect players. McKenney worked closely with the team trainers, physical therapists and physicians on the rehabilitation of all injured players, helping them to return to optimal playing performance. He placed a special emphasis on teaching players about the crucial relationship between healthy nutritional practice and body composition, strength and power attainment and position specific conditioning. McKenney also focused on how proper hydration and energy repletion practices can maximize performance capability and reduce injury risk. His success can be measured by the impressive consistency of his team finishing near the top in the least amount of man-games-lost category throughout his NHL career.
Prior to Buffalo, McKenney served as the head strength & conditioning coach for the Hartford Whalers from 1989-1995. He was the head strength & conditioning coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1985-89.
McKenney earned a master's degree in exercise physiology from Mississippi State in 1985. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in health, fitness and physical education from Springfield College in 1981.
McKenney and his wife, Suzanne, have two sons, Matthew and Neil. Suzanne is the President Emerita of The Character Council of Western New York, an award-winning not-for-profit 501(c)(3) volunteer organization dedicated to fostering the development of character excellence for all citizens throughout the Western New York Region.
1985-1989 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Head Strength & Conditioning
1989-1995 | Hartford Whalers | Head Strength & Conditioning
1995-2015 | Buffalo Sabres | Head Strength & Conditioning
2015-2018 | CoachMePlus | Founding Coach/Sports Performance Specialist – Strength & Conditioning
2018-2020 | Indianapolis Colts | Assistant Strength and Conditioning
2021-2024 | Indianapolis Colts | Applied Sports Science/Conditioning
