Alabama football is about to usher in a new era of strength and conditioning, as the program is expected to have the tandem of David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea join the staff.
Multiple outlets have sourced that Nick Saban’s search for Scott Cochran’s replacement kept coming back to Ballou of Indiana. The five-time national champion for the Crimson Tide wanted a more cutting-edge, scientific approach to things, and Ballou fit the requirement for him.
He has an incredible resume, which starts from his playing days with the Hoosiers as a fullback from 1997 to 1999.
RELATED: Alabama’s new strength coach, David Ballou likely announced this week
Afterwards, Ballou spent 13 years at Avon High School (2002-14) as its head strength and conditioning coach. During this time, he guided the school to six state titles in multiple sports and produced 80 Division I scholarship athletes.
Ballou took IMG Academy to another level in 2015 and 2016, as it went 21-0 under him and had five players in 2016 that posted a laser-time of under 4.50 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
Along with bettering the speed of athletes, Ballou made strides with IMG where its injury prevention was concerned too.
He guided Notre Dame to a 10-3 season in 2017, as its Co-Director of Strength and Conditioning while assisting its offensive line to winning the Joe Moore Award. Ballou has greatly improved Indiana in two seasons, with its most wins (eight) since 1993 coming last year.
One thing he brings to Alabama is his knowledge of attacking weaknesses.
“Any strength coach will tell you that getting the guys the body is half the body,” Ballou said in an interview with IndyStar Sports. “After that, you better know what you are doing. Anybody can put someone in the weight room and make them have a hard workout. That is not hard to do. What’s hard to do is go attack specific issues, flaws and weaknesses… and know how to fix them… and then see it improve and then make adjustments afterwards. That is what’s hard.”
In the video, Ballou talks about the hours that he and Dr. Rhea both spend looking at data and implementing it into the plan.
“That’s every day,” Ballou said. “We don’t have analysis guys coming in to do it. He and I do it. We do it so we know. I want to look at those numbers so when I a guy, I already know what his numbers are going to be. I do not need to ask anyone else. That is just how we operate.”
According to close, respectable sources, yours truly of Touchdown Alabama Magazine was told that a Big Ten coach looks at Ballou as a “game changer.” He said the Tide will immediately see the difference in the speed, strength and injury prevention of its players with Ballou.
Another thing Ballou does well is choosing the exercise program that will best help athletes perform well on the field. He does not require his players to do certain things, especially if it does not translate into production in games.
Both aspects are huge, in terms of getting Alabama back to being well-respected on defense and not having so many injuries to prominent players.
Saban is ready to birth a new dynasty and Ballou is the move for it.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
