Zach Duval serves as the director of sports performance for football with the Knights since spring 2016. He oversees the entire sports performance department at UCF.
He spent the 2014-15 seasons at the University of Wyoming as the director of sports performance.
While at Wyoming, he was named Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, which is the highest honor given in the profession.
UCF head coach Scott Frost was a star quarterback for Nebraska at the same time Duval was moving up the ranks for the Cornhuskers. Duval started his coaching career as a student assistant in the NU "Husker Power" strength training program in 1994, took over as a graduate assistant from 1995-96 and was an assistant football strength coach from 1997-02. Frost's senior year was in 1997 when he was a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist which is handed out to the nation's best signal-caller.
After his first stint in Lincoln, Duval founded the Xplosive Edge performance center in 2002, which developed specialized computer software to be utilized by strength-training professionals. He also served as co-owner and manager of The Performance and Wellness Institute in Colorado. In 2008, Duval returned to the college ranks as a strength coach at Nebraska.
Duval stayed in the state of Nebraska in 2009 when he was the director of athletics performance at Creighton, then traveled to Buffalo to work as the Bulls' director of sports performance from 2010-13.
During his time with college football programs, Duval helped Nebraska win three national championships (1994, 1995 and 1997). At Buffalo, he assisted with All-America linebacker Khalil Mack who would be selected No. 5 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.
Duval holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Nebraska in 1998. He and his wife, Sarah, have five children, Sonja, Bronx, Jaggar, Capri and Zolie.