Weisman’s year in Israel helped set new path as Cubs strength coach

Moving from Cubs minor league strength coordinator to a job as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the major-league squad feels like a relatively small step.

Mark Weisman, the former Stevenson High School football star, put an interesting twist on that progression by taking a one-year detour in Israel between his two roles with the Cubs.

These days, he's with the team full-time, home and away, trying to do whatever it takes to find an edge in the weight room.

“How I can help them is kind of what drives me,” Weisman said last weekend in Detroit. “What's the one little thing, while very small, that could be significant? How significant, who knows? But it's a cool piece of a puzzle.”

Weisman was one of the most prolific running backs in area history at Stevenson. He played at Iowa, had a short stint in the NFL, then set out to be a college strength coach.

By 2022, he'd joined the Cubs as a minor-league strength coach. He and childhood friend Steven Pollakov from Buffalo Grove were following the Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans around the southeast, driving a truck loaded with exercise equipment and trying to set up workouts in hotel parking lots.

He spent the next two years as strength coordinator of all the Cubs' minor league teams when there was a disruption to his routine.

“So, born and raised Jewish; went on birthright trip to Israel after I was done with college and football,” Weisman said. “Then October 7 happened. It kind of hit different.”

Weisman said he was at a football game, watching Arizona State play Colorado, when he heard news of attacks in Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people.

“I hadn't felt that way, probably since 9/11,” he said. “And I was young them, I was in fourth grade. But there was just a different level of meaning behind that. It brought sports down just a little bit (in importance), even with how much I love sports.”

Weisman wanted to help, and it was the minor-league offseason, so he got permission from the Cubs to take a one month leave of absence. Too old to join the military, he ended up volunteering at farms and factories to help supply aid.

“The Cubs were like, 'Yeah, you can go,'” he said. “'You're going to come back, right?' I'm like, 'Yeah, of course I'll come back.'”

He almost didn't come back. Moved by the entire experience, Weisman met someone, fell in love and decided to make Israel his permanent home. He even landed a job as strength coach for one of the country's top basketball clubs, Hapoel Jerusalem.

“Loved it out there,” he said. “I was ready to stay forever. Hapoel Jerusalem was an awesome experience. Half the team was Israeli, half the team was American. I didn't know any of them, but obviously a mutual connection.”

Turns out, though, the Cubs didn't lose his phone number. A year after he left, they called to ask if Weisman was interested in coming back. He left it up to his now-fiance, Racheli, who had been to the U.S. once in her life.

“She was willing to come back,” Weisman said. “If she wasn't, I wouldn't have even thought about it. (Israel) probably will be home again at some point. Not for a while, but it probably will be home.”

Spending a year with the basketball team actually gave Weisman a taste of what his current job with the Cubs would be like, focused on a single team instead of his attention being spread among six minor-league affiliates. He's able to do more one-on-one coaching, but refused to take credit for the Cubs' upswing in home runs this season.

“We signed Kyle Tucker, and then Pete Crow-Armstrong's grown another year,” Weisman said. “I'll take blame for stuff, I will never take credit for anything. It's all them.”

About two weeks ago, Weisman posted a wedding announcement on Instagram. He and Racheli stood together in front of the ivy at Wrigley Field and stared into each other's eyes in the Cubs dugout, among other photos.

Seems like he ended up with the best of both worlds.

“Yeah, life's crazy,” Weisman said. “The path I took in life is a very weird path. It's fun, it's cool. You get to be around these players every day, going to the best cities; understanding what they need, what they don't need.

“It's a puzzle. It's problem-solving at all times, which is really cool.”