Dave Puloka (pronounced puh-LOH-kuh) joined the Miami Dolphins in 2008 and was promoted to director of player performance in 2025. He is the longest-tenured coach on the Dolphins staff, now in his 18th season, after first serving as assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2008-15 and being promoted to head strength & conditioning coach in 2016.
Puloka oversees all aspects of the players' year-round physical preparation process, which includes strength & conditioning, nutrition and sports science initiatives.
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 four straight winning seasons from 2020-23, something the franchise had not accomplished since 1997-2003. The Dolphins earned consecutive playoff berths from 2022-23, marking the team's first back-to-back trips to the playoffs since 1997-2001.
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 19.0 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. In 2025, he was inducted into the Holy Cross Hall of Fame.
Puloka and his wife, Sela, have two children – their son, Noa, and daughter, Lavinia.
