Will Bartholomew
President & CEO
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Will Bartholomew founded D1 in 2002 and serves as President and CEO. Will provides the vision and direction of D1 and oversees all business matters, sales efforts and personnel. Will is the point person for all therapy and athlete partners and directs all new business.

He brings a strong leadership background from his time at the University of Tennessee, where he served as Captain of the football team in 2001 and was a member of the 1998 National Championship team. Driven by his passion for athletics, Will took his vision of bringing the Division I training advantages to athletes of all ages and formed D1. Will holds a BS in Finance from the University of Tennessee.

Dan Murphy
Vice President, CFO & COO
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Dan Murphy serves as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Since joining D1 in 2006, Dan has overseen all company-wide, day-to-day services, retention and senior level operations. Due to his extensive financial background, Dan also has management oversight and responsibility for all financial functions and directs all revenues, costs, capital expenditures, investments and debt.

Prior to D1, Dan served as Executive Director of Business Development – where he was responsible for several joint ventures between hospitals and private laboratories – for a startup company that was sold to Laboratory Corporation of America. His previous experience includes strategic development, capital raising and portfolio management.

Dan holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point – where he was Captain of the 1996 USMA West Point soccer team – and an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.

Ron Rickel
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
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Ron Rickel is the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for D1 Sports Holdings, LLC. Ron is responsible for managing all strategies, tactics, and programs related to the company's marketing and branding efforts, including all in-facility and company-wide advertising, online marketing strategies, branded events, and public relations campaigns.

Ron has more than 10 years of marketing and event management experience. Since joining D1 in 2006,  Ron has managed D1's marketing programs and has overseen sales since 2008, when he was promoted to Vice President.

Ron holds a BS in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Marketing, from Mississippi State University.

Kurt Hester
Corporate Director of Training
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Kurt Hester, known nationally for his energetic approach to training top-tier athletes, serves as D1’s Director of Training.

Kurt is D1's primary authority on sports training and is responsible for instilling the D1 training philosophy and making sure all D1 coaches properly implement and teach training programs and techniques. In addition, Kurt oversees D1's NFL Combine Training Program.

Prior to D1, Kurt ran and owned HS2 Athletic Performance in New Orleans for nine years, where he turned out more than 400 collegiate scholarship athletes and trained more than 50 NFL draft picks. He also trained numerous MLB draft picks, high school All-Americans, state championship teams and collegiate National Track & Field finalists. Prior to HS2, Kurt was a strength & speed coach at LSU, Tulane and Southeastern Louisiana University. In addition, Kurt is still an active strength and speed consultant at Florida State, Tennessee, Illinois, Ole Miss, Alabama, Nichols State, Grambling State and the Unviersity of Miami.

Kurt, a graduate of Tulane Unviersity, was inducted into the Strength Coach Hall of Fame and holds various certifications through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, United States Weightlifting and the Speed, Agility and Conditioning Association. Kurt learned under USA Weightlifting coach, Gayle Hatch and speed coach, Tom Shaw.

Adam Kerley
Corporate Director of Therapy
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Adam Kerley is D1’s primary authority on sports therapy and rehabilitation. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall management of D1 Sports Therapy, including managing the therapy staff, developing all D1 Sports Therapy programs, and ensuring that all programs and techniques are correctly implemented and followed at all D1 facilities.

In addition, Adam is responsible for ensuring all D1 Sports Therapy clinics maintain an intense, enthusiastic and exciting environment. He also serves as a physical therapist at D1 Knoxville. Prior to D1, Adam held positions as a physical therapist and practiced Sport Medicine services in various environments, including health systems, collegiate athletic training programs, and advanced sports training services.

Adam holds a BA in Physical Therapy from East Tennessee State University and is a licensed physical therapist, a Certified Athletic Trainer and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Adam has published physical therapy related articles and been a speaker at multiple physical therapy and sports medicine seminars. Adam played baseball at Roane County Community College.

Michael Shipman
Legal Counsel
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Michael Shipman is handling all legal issues in regards to D1 and its various entities. Michael’s specialtiy involves negotiating contracts with our Professional Athlete Co-Owners and Sports Therapy partners.

Michael is a graduate of the University of Tennessee where he received a degree in Sport Management. Following graduation he went on to attend the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL. While in law school, Michael worked with Leader Sports Managment and had a 711 license to practice law in Chicago at the Cook County Public Defender's Office. After passing the BAR exam and receiving his law license Michael became D1’s Legal Counsel.

Matt Toy
Corporate Public Relations Director
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Matt Toy has more than 10 years of public relations and marketing experience and has worked with D1 PR since late 2006. As PR manager, he oversees media relations and community relations for all of D1’s locations and assists in facilitating strategic marketing partnerships. Prior to joining D1, Matt worked in high school, college and pro sports.

Matt came to D1 from Alday Communications, a PR firm which handled the D1 Sports PR account. At Alday, Matt was the PR liaison for D1 and also GetFitTN, which was Tennessee’s statewide health and fitness program run by Governor Phil Bredesen, Tennessee Commissioner of Health Susan Cooper and spokesman Eddie George. Before Alday, Matt worked in PR and publications for the Tennessee Titans, Nashville Kats, Third Coast Sports and Miami (OH) University’s athletic department. Matt was also a high school athletic director in Cincinnati before moving to Nashville.

Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in Sports Organization with a minor in coaching from Miami (OH) University and a master’s degree in Sports Administration from Belmont University. Matt is currently an adjunct professor for Belmont’s Sports Administration master’s program.

Kendra Parham
Corporate Operations Manager
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As corporate operations manager, Kendra’s primary role involves training and managing each D1 facility's Operations Manager. She oversees facility-wide membership programs, including all customer relations and service. Kendra also assists in the management of the day-to-day operations of each facility, including marketing and sales.

Kendra holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resource Management from the University of Tennessee. Before moving to the corporate office, Kendra was previously Operations Manager for D1 Nashville and D1 Memphis.