Steve Hess steps away as Nuggets strength coach
The Nuggets announced on Thursday that Steve Hess will no longer be the Nuggets strength and conditioning coach.
Steve Hess has been the Nuggets strength coach for the last 20 seasons. Hess was the first strength coach the Nuggets ever had and will leave a lasting imprint on the Nuggets organization. Hess is moving on to a new chapter in his life and that chapter was outlined by Christopher Dempsey’s article on Hess’s departure:
"Hess is moving to a new chapter of his working life, and Felipe Eichenberger takes the reigns of the Nuggets strength and conditioning program, said Nuggets president and governor Josh Kroenke. Hess will stay with the organization as a consultant while he starts work as chief performance operator at Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center. -Christopher Dempsey"
Two important parts in that paragraph are the fact that Hess isn’t leaving the organization completely and that they’ve already hired his replacement. Hess will stay on as a consultant for the team and that’ll especially be important in keeping the teams comradery together. Hess is a key component in the teams success and has built a great relationship with the current roster, and it’s important that he is still going to be apart of the organization as a consultant.
As for the Nuggets new strength coach, this comes from his bio on the Nuggets website:
"Felipe Eichenberger enters his sixth season with the Denver Nuggets and first season as the Associate Head Strength and Conditioning coach after serving the previous five years as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach. Eichenberger assists Steve Hess with the team’s weight training, conditioning and nutritional programs."
It seems like the Nuggets are trying to keep the organization together with this hire and that they
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think Eichenberger will be the right man for the job. Next season will be his seventh season with the team so he has seen the change in culture the Nuggets have built over the last couple of seasons.
Hess was a great guy and an incredible person to have in the community. He has been apart of the Nuggets organization for over two decades and has seen a lot of change. Fans will certainly miss seeing Hess bring the energy in pre-game warmups and even the energy he brought on the bench during games. Hess is moving on to something bigger though and it’s awesome to see him getting another amazing opportunity.
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We haven’t seen the last of Steve Hess and look for him to continue to stick around the Nuggets franchise when he has the time.