The run of national championships is not over for Nick Saban at Alabama; however, the program is in a unique situation.
With it moving on from Scott Cochran, the Crimson Tide is trying to locate a new face to be its strength and conditioning coach. During the last two years, Saban has harped on the team returning to the “Bama factor” that made it a huge force in recent seasons.
Part of this mindset is reaching out to those that were successful at Alabama.
Mike McCoy could have easily bailed out and went elsewhere, but he was one of few Mike Shula recruits willing to buy into Saban’s message. He came to the Tide as a three-star from Mississippi, and he worked as though he had everything to prove.
McCoy was one of the leaders on Alabama’s 2009 BCS National Championship team and he was one of the guys that kicked off the culture of winning trophies. Not only did he understand what Saban was about, he also grew to learn how important Tide football was to the community.
As an extension of Saban, McCoy took the lessons he learned and has applied them to his own career as a trainer.
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He is the founder of Warehouse Performance Institute in Bessemer, Ala., and much like his former head coach, McCoy is about building relationships. He works with several schools in the Birmingham area and all the parents appreciate what he does with the youth.
Cochran got McCoy into the training field, but he has built on that by creating his own atmosphere of hard work.
He relates well to everyone, whether it’s elementary school, junior high school, high school, college or professional athletes.
As for the youth, boys and girls look to McCoy as a father figure.
He is well-respected in the community and his brand continues to grow. When it comes to helping athletes, McCoy has assisted many to collegiate scholarships, pro football opportunities and by next year, two of his guys look to hear their names called in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Sometimes, the best name for a job is one that is overlooked.
For Saban, having McCoy in for an interview would be huge. He knows the players and while he was one of the first guys to experience the Fourth Quarter Program, he would find ways to make it better. Seeing how the majority of the team is black, he would present a positive yet fair energy to the players. With Saban being a straight shooter, in terms of honesty, McCoy presents the same objective. He does not sugarcoat anything, instead he is firm with people.
He knows Jeff Allen (Alabama’s head athletic trainer) and Amy Bragg (head nutritionist) and would work well with them.
While he prepares to start the interview process, Saban at least owes McCoy the chance to come in and present his philosophy. He has been wanting to get a band of people that he trusts to help him on this potential wave of more championships, and McCoy should be one of those individuals. He helped stamp Saban as a champion at Alabama, and now Saban needs to allow McCoy an opportunity to get the conditioning program back up.
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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.
