Dave Puloka (pronounced puh-LOH-kuh) joined the Miami Dolphins in 2008 and was promoted to head strength & conditioning coach in 2016. He is the longest-tenured coach on the Dolphins staff and was an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2008-15.
Puloka oversees all aspects of the players' weight training along with the team's offseason conditioning program and rehabilitation process. In his first season as head strength & conditioning coach in 2016, he helped the team win 10 games and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008. He also helped Miami to three straight winning seasons from 2020-22, something the franchise had not accomplished since 2001-03. The Dolphins earned another playoff berth in 2022.
Prior to Miami, Puloka spent the 2007 season as the assistant strength & conditioning coach with the Atlanta Falcons, his first year in the NFL. Puloka served as a graduate assistant strength & conditioning coach at the University of Virginia from 2005-06.
Puloka went to training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted college free agent in 2001. He lettered in football and track at Holy Cross (1997-2000), where he played defensive end. His career totals in football included 19 sacks. He served as a team captain on the football team each of his final two years while he was also a first-team All-Patriot League and All-New England performer. Puloka earned his degree in psychology from Holy Cross and his master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Virginia.
Puloka and his wife, Sela, live in Fort Lauderdale with their son, Noa, and daughter, Lavinia.
