Get To Know David Ballou & Matt Rhea

On Tuesday, Nick Saban officially announced David Ballou and Matt Rhea as the newest additions to the Crimson Tide coaching staff. Let’s take a closer look at the two coaches and what their roles will be at Alabama.

David Ballou’s official title is Director of Sports Performance. His primary function will be to head the strength and conditioning program.

“Player development is my passion” Ballou said. “We can’t wait to get to Tuscaloosa and begin working with some of the best athletes and football players in the nation. We will attack all avenues of performance to make sure we are optimizing the physical abilities of every player on the roster.”

Matt Rhea, as the Director of Performance Science, will head the new Sports Science Center.

The sports science center will be a comprehensive facility available to all athletes consisting of physical-evaluation areas, a behavioral health center, two athlete-recovery rooms with 15 specialized recovery chairs, three float beds and a multi-person, whole-body cryo chamber.

“For the past 22 years, I have been studying how best to develop athletes, prevent injuries and prime for competition,” Rhea said. “Through research, I have found some innovative ways to target neuromuscular issues that are limiting performance and, by teaming up with one of best strength and conditioning coaches in the world, we can target those limiting factors during training.

Ballou and Rhea both come to Alabama from Indiana where they held similar positions.

The hires signal, once again, that Nick Saban is not satisfied with the status quo. The downfall of many coaches is complacency. They continue to do what they’ve always done because it’s what they know, and it has worked for them. Not Nick Saban.

Mounting injuries over the last few seasons have had a significant impact on Alabama’s quest for national championships. Those injuries have not gone unnoticed and have led directly to the implementation of a more scientific approach to fitness.

“Just as with any other area, we feel that it is imperative that we adopt and integrate advancements in the field of strength and conditioning that will provide elite training, while better protecting our players from injuries and helping them develop and perform at a higher level,” Saban said in a release. “Our program has been working toward these type of advancements with the development and construction of our own sports science center, and with the addition of David and Matt, we believe our student-athletes will be better equipped to reach their goals for many years to come.”

Ballou and Rhea will be tasked with not just getting the Crimson Tide players bigger, faster, and stronger. They’ll be expected to reduce injuries and keep key players on the field.

“The addition of Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea shows the unsurpassed dedication to the student-athlete at The University of Alabama,” Andrews Sports Medicine Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lyle Cain said in a release. “Their ability to develop football players while working in conjunction with athletic training and nutrition to help prevent injuries will be vital to the program’s success. With all these factors in place, Alabama will possess a one-of-a-kind program, not only in college, but in the NFL as well, that will focus on protecting its players and helping them reach their full potential.

David Ballou Career Highlights:

– Ballou spent two seasons at Indiana as the team’s Director of Athletic Performance. Eleven Hoosiers made the All-Big Ten team in 2019. Indiana went 8-5 and played in the Gator Bowl. It was the team’s first Florida bowl game. Indiana won eight games – the most since 1993.

– Four Indiana standouts made NFL rosters under Ballou, who has trained 31 NFL draft picks in his career.

– Prior to Indiana, Ballou was Notre Dame’s Co-Director of Football Strength and Conditioning in 2017. The Fighting Irish went 10-3 with a victory over LSU in the Citrus Bowl.

– Ballou helped develop an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award recognizing the best line in the country. Two of those linemen were drafted in the Top 10 of the 2018 NFL Draft. Four players overall were selected by NFL teams.

– Ballou was the head football strength and conditioning coach at prep powerhouse IMG Academy for two years. IMG went unbeaten in 2015 and 2016. Seven IMG players were timed at under 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash in 2016. All but one starter played the entire season in 2016.

– Ballou played fullback at Indiana from 1997-99, where he was recognized as the Hoosier Strength Challenge Champion.

Matt Rhea Career Highlights:

– Rhea joined the Hoosier staff as an athletic performance coach in 2018.

– He was the Head of Sports Science at IMG Academy from 2016-17.

– He has worked as a football strength and conditioning coach for 13 years, NFL Combine training for five, high school football for five and college for three.

– Rhea started a consulting company in 2001, assisting NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams, International Olympic programs, and college athletic departments with speed training, injury prevention and performance optimization.

– Indiana players increased their top running speed by three miles per hour under Rhea.

– Rhea played football at UNLV and Southern Utah University. He has a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, a Master of Science in Exercise science and Physical education, and a Master of Science in Sports Management.