Alabama formally announces additions of David Ballou, Dr. Matt Rhea from Indiana – Montgomery Advertiser

Alabama formally announced the hires of David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea as the team's new director of sports performance and director of performance science in a release Tuesday morning, March 3, 2020.(Photo: Alabama athletics)

TUSCALOOSA Alabama football officially elevated its player developmentto the next level with Tuesday's announced additions of two hires to replace one.

The Crimson Tide formally named Indiana strength and conditioning duo David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea as its newly-createddirector of sports performance and director of performance science, respectively, in a press release Tuesday morning.

"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," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said in a statement. "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."

The hires formally fill a hole vacated by longtime Alabama strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran after he left to become Georgia's special teams coordinator last week following 13 seasons in the support role in Tuscaloosa.

The additions of Ballou and Rhea were made with the program's new sports science center, which is still under construction but should be finished later this summer, in mind, creating new roles to further utilize innovative advancements in strength and conditioning.

IU football director of athletic performance David Ballou speaks with reporters about the Hoosiers' approach to strength and conditioning. Indianapolis Star

"The collaboration between strength and conditioning, sports medicine and nutrition are absolutely critical for the success of our program," Alabama's associate athletic director of sports medicineJeff Allensaid in the release. "The addition of Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea to our program will allow us to take full advantage of our sports science center. The data they will generate on our athletes, through their unique training methods, will allow us to know exactly how to manage our team to ensure we are performing at our best each Saturday and make sure we are doing all we can to prevent injuries."

Ballou spent the past two years as Indiana's director of athletic performance while Rhea was the Hoosier's high performance coordinator. Both also served two years apiece in similar roles at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, before Ballou accepted a co-director of strength and conditioning at Notre Dame in 2017. Ballou, who played fullback at Indiana between 1997-99,also spent more than a dozen years as the head strength and conditioning coach at Avon (Indiana) High.

"Player development is my passion" Ballou said in the statement. "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."

Rhea has an educational background having served as a professor of kinesiology at A.T. Still University where he taught courses in sports conditioning and exercise physiology and has published nearly 100 studies in performance enhancement. Rhea has a master's degree in exercise science and physical education and a doctorate in philosophyat Arizona State in 2001 and 2004, respectively,and a second master's in sports management from American Public University in 2016.

"For the past 22 years, I have been studying how best to develop athletes, prevent injuries and prime for competition," Rhea said in a statement. "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.

"Everyone works hard in football these days, and our system involves a lot of hard work, but not just for the sake of causing pain and suffering. It involves hard work because getting improvements in very elite athletes is very challenging. We are combining hard work with very scientific methods in order to maximize development and preparation."

Alabama's new sports science center will be a comprehensive facility that will feature assessment areas for all athletes, physical-evaluation areas, a behavioral health center, two athlete-recovery rooms that feature 15 specialized recovery chairs, three float beds and a multi-person, whole-body cryo chamber.

"The addition of Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea shows the unsurpassed dedication to the student-athlete at The University of Alabama," Alabama team doctor andAndrews Sports Medicine Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lyle Cain said. "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."

Indiana Hoosiers Director of Athletic Performance David Ballou looks on during practice at Mellencamp Pavilion in Bloomington, Ind., on Monday, August 6, 2018.(Photo: Rob Goddin/For IndyStar)

Alex Byington isthe Montgomery Advertiser's Alabama beat reporter. He can be reached by email at abyington@montgome.gannett.com or on Twitter at @_AlexByington.

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Alabama formally announces additions of David Ballou, Dr. Matt Rhea from Indiana - Montgomery Advertiser