Austin graduated from Western Illinois University in 2013 where he received his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a minor in Nutrition. Shortly after graduation, he returned to WIU to continue his education as a graduate assistant of Fitness Services and Facility Management and earned a Master of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Strength and Conditioning in 2015.

Austin has a variety of experience in sports performance having worked with athletes from the youth to professional levels.  After graduating from WIU, he participated in valuable internships gaining knowledge and experience in sports performance, group fitness, and personal training. His internships offered him experience with different types of physiological testing, including implementation of the Bruce Protocol for VO2 max testing, the Wingate bike test for peak anaerobic power, as well as body composition screenings.

Prior to joining the team under David Donatucci, Austin was the Director of Strength and Conditioning at North Greene High School in Roodhouse, Illinois. At NGHS, he started and created the strength and conditioning program for eight athletic sport teams. He was directly responsible for program design, testing, implementation, instruction, and education of the strength and conditioning plan for each team.