Charleston Southern University Athletics

Noel Durfey joined the Charleston Southern staff in April of 2025 and serves as Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Buccaneers.  In his role, he oversees all workouts as well as the Athletic Performance Center. Durfey came to Charleston Southern after working the previous three years at Florida International University in the same role and brings nearly 30 years of experience in the industry to the Bucs.

While with the Panthers, he worked and oversaw the design and implementation of the speed, strength and conditioning programs for the teams. He also had oversight of the whole department including the budget, hiring of new employees, improvements to the weight room and all 14 varsity sports at the school. He also worked with the Panthers' track and field throwers as well as swimmers at the school.

Prior to that, he spent 14 years working at Duke as the Head Football Sports Performance Coach and before that, he was in Oxford, Mississippi at Ole Miss. With the Rebels, Durfey worked primarily with the football and baseball programs while helping direct the staff’s efforts with all 18 varsity sports. The Ole Miss baseball team made appearances in the NCAA Tournament in six of Durfey’s seven years in Oxford.

Prior to working at Ole Miss, Durfey served stints at Tennessee (1996-98), BYU (1998-99) and James Madison (2000). As a graduate assistant at Tennessee, he helped with the football program along with swimming and diving, basketball and track and field. At BYU, Durfey assisted with the football team while working with the baseball and men’s basketball squads. He worked with the baseball, women’s tennis and men’s swimming and diving programs during his one year at James Madison.

Durfey lettered two seasons in baseball at Lincoln Memorial University before graduating in 1991 with a degree in physical education. He later earned a master’s degree in sport administration from the University of Tennessee in 1998. He is originally from Lambertville, Michigan.

Durfey is married to the former Kelly Jones of Knoxville, Tenn., and the couple has two daughters, Savannah Beth and Olivia Grace.