Mental Skills Coordinator
Jesse Michel enters his fourth season as the Astros mental skills coordinator. In his role, Jesse works closely with the Player Development and Sports Medicine and Performance staff, coaches, players, and front office personnel to help develop the Astros Mental Training philosophy, and spearheads the effort to develop and implement a comprehensive Mental Training Program for the organization.
Prior to joining the Astros, Jesse spent four years as the Lead Master Resilience Trainer – Performance Expert at the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) Training Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The mission of CSF2 is to teach resilience, sport, and performance psychology skills to U.S. Army Soldiers, family members, and DA Civilians all over the world. In his role with CSF2, Jesse provided hands-on training and self-development tools so that members of the Army family were better able to cope with adversity, perform better in stressful situations, and thrive on and off the battlefield.
Jesse received his Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology from West Virginia University, where he served as the Mental Skills Coordinator for the Mountaineer Men’s and Women’s Swimming program from 2009-2013. In that role, Jesse was in charge of developing team and individual Mental Training Programs for Mountaineer athletes and coaches, which included NCAA All-Americans, Conference Coach of the Year Award winners, and United States Olympic Trial participants. Prior to his time at WVU, Jesse received his M.S. in Exercise and Sport Sciences at Ithaca College and his B.A. in Psychology at the University of California at San Diego. He is also currently listed on the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry and is a Certified Consultant of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (CC-AASP).
Jesse resides in Florida with his wife, Lt. Col Jennifer Sherman, United States Air Force, son Jace, and their dog Tinkerbell.