Nick Saban has found has man. Less than a week after Scott Cochran left the Crimson Tide to become the Special Teams coach at Georgia, Alabama has a new Strength & Conditioning Coach. David Ballou, who has held the same position at Indiana for the past two years, has accepted the position.
Ballou was the Co-Director of Football Strength & Conditioning at Notre Dame in 2017. Prior to that he was Head Strength Coach at IMG Academy in Florida. Can you say recruiting?
Indiana Athletic Performance Coach Matt Rhea will also be joining the Crimson Tide. Rhea was also at IMG, as the its head of sports science.
The addition of Rhea coincides with the addition of Alabama’s new Sports Science Center.
“As we do with every position that opens here, we will go out and hire the best person to lead our strength and conditioning program,” Saban said last week, “and help our players maximize the resources available in our new sports science facility.”
Many have considered the loss of Cochran to be a blow to the Alabama program. One thing is always a certainty, however. Nick Saban always has a contingency plan. These two hires look to be the right people at the right time.
We’ll be following up with detailed stories on Ballou and Rhea in the days to come.
UPDATE: Get To Know David Ballou & Matt Rhea
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