Kurt Hester enters his ninth season with the Bulldog Football program after Louisiana Tech head football coach Skip Holtz announced his hiring as the athletic department's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in June of 2013.

Hester has been a part of seven straight bowl appearances for Louisiana Tech (2014-20), including six straight bowl victories from 2014-19 which was tied for the fifth longest streak in FBS history. 

Hester has worked with 14 NFL draft picks at LA Tech as well as seven All-Americans and 57 All-Conference USA First and Second Team selections as well as eight players who have garnered specialty awards -- Cody Sokol (2014 C-USA Newcomer of the Year), Jeff Driskel (2015 C-USA Newcomer of the Year), Ryan Higgins (2016 C-USA Most Valuable Player), Carlos Henderson (2016 C-USA Offensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year), Teddy Veal (2017 C-USA Newcomer of the Year), Jaylon Ferguson (2018 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year), J'Mar Smith (2019 C-USA Offensive Player of the Year) and Luke Anthony (2020 C-USA Newcomer of the Year).

Hester joined the LA Tech Family after serving as a National Director of Training for the D1 Sports Training Center in Nashville, Tenn. since 2008. He worked with training several professional athletes from leagues such as the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Soccer (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL) and the NFL Combine classes. One NFL player notable to Tech fans that Hester has worked with is former Bulldog quarterback Luke McCown.

Concurrent to his tenure at D1 Sports Training, Hester also worked as the Director of Training at the Manning Passing Academy as he designed a training program for over 1,300 high school athletes and delivered a specific training seminar for high school and college coaches.

From 1997-2008, Hester was the owner and Director of Performance at HS2 Athletic Performance in Mandeville. He developed and mentored area coaches for college and professional coaching careers with several going on to BCS-level schools and NFL teams. Over 500 athletes he worked with received collegiate scholarships during that time as he oversaw the development of over 400 junior and senior high students per day.

Hester was an assistant strength coach at LSU from 1995-98, working with the speed development program for then-football coach Gerry Dinardo and worked primarily with the LSU baseball team as it won two national championships under legendary coach Skip Bertman. Hester also worked with the men's basketball, women's soccer and women's golf programs as well as with the varsity cheerleaders.

He graduated from Tulane University in 1995 with a Bachelors of Science degree in exercise physiology. He also served as a graduate strength coach at Tulane for two years.

Hester has certifications as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength & Conditioning Association and also has his Speed Agility & Conditioning certification as well as his Level 1 certification from the United States Weightlifting Association.

Hester is married to the former Seana Durman. The couple have three children: Sydney, Rieleah and Remy.