Yancy McKnight, Iowa State’s Director of Strength and Conditioning, has left Iowa State for a similar position at the University of Houston.

McKnight will be the Director of Football Performance at Houston, where former Iowa State offensive coordinator Tom Herman took the head coaching position for the football team.

McKnight joined the Iowa State staff as strength and conditioning coach in 2009, mentoring seven NFL players in his time with the Cyclones.

McKnight was known as a players coach, earning praise from Tom Farniok as the best strength and conditioning coach in the nation at the close of the 2014 season. Former ISU linebacker Jake Knott tweeted his thanks to his former coach as McKnight accepts the job at Houston.