Marcus Banks begins his first season on Head Coach Jimmy Rogers’ staff as the first assistant strength and conditioning coach. His brother, Mike Banks, is the cornerbacks coach for the Cougars and spent to prior two seasons on coach Rogers staff at South Dakota State in a similar capacity.
Marcus Banks arrived in Pullman having spent the previous three months in Professional Rugby (MLR) with the Utah Warriors where he served in a role similar to his role at WSU.
Prior to the Utah Warriors, Banks spent three seasons with the football program at the University of Utah. In his three seasons there, the Utes won consecutive Pac-12 Championships in 2021 and 2022, including two Rose Bowl appearances, as well as playing in the 2023 Las Vegas Bowl.
He was at the University of Michigan before Utah, where he worked with current NFL players Aidan Hutchinson and J.J. McCarthy. Prior to Michigan, Banks was with the University of Arkansas for Sam Pittman’s second season where they won nine games, including the Outback Bowl. Prior to Arkansas, he was under contract as a paid intern for the Chicago Bears in 2020.
For two years Banks served as a graduate assistant at the University of New Orleans in strength and conditioning. He oversaw and programmed for 10 of the 12 sports while assisting with the main two sports of basketball and baseball. Prior to his graduate assistantship, he interned at Southern University A&M, the University of Southern California, Mississippi State University, as well as at his alma mater Eastern Illinois University.
Banks is Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). He’s a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He also is certified as a USAW Level 1 Sports Performance Coach receiving the certification from Olympian Strength Coach Gayle Hatch himself.
A native of University Park, Illinois, he graduated from EIU with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He and his wife, Euricka, have two dogs, Sage and Kodi.
