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Nick Saban is often lauded for being a step ahead of college football, owing his staying power to his willingness to adapt and innovate.
Well, sometimes you just get lucky.
Saban went through a public but amicable divorce with longtime assistant Scott Cochran back in January, necessitated by Scott’s desire to move into an on-field role and Saban’s desire to modernize the strength and conditioning department. Cochran was replaced in short order by Indiana’s David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea, who are known for being on the cutting edge of exercise science, particularly in terms of using technology to measure performance and improvement.
Well, according to the head man via Matt Zenitz, the move has paid off in a big way during the COVID-19 disruption.
Saban praised new strength and conditioning coaches David Ballou and Matt Rhea.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 2, 2020
"They were very instrumental in setting up this whole program of what we're doing with the players in terms of Apple watches for their workouts and apps on their phones for weight training programs."
I don’t know how he does it, but somehow Saban always stays ahead. If and when we get to play football again, Alabama should be better off than most from a conditioning standpoint with coaches having the ability to monitor workouts remotely.
Of course, some are already crying foul.
Interesting because Eli Drinkwitz told us yesterday he’s not even allowed to ask players if they worked out that day. https://t.co/JrYtEVXtpr
— Gabe DeArmond (@GabeDeArmond) April 2, 2020
It never fails.
We’ll leave you with this live look at Kirby placing an order for Apple watches...
Roll Tide.