Kalen DeBoer retained the highly regarded David Ballou atop the Alabama football strength program and plucked not only ascendant coaching star Kane Wommack to help run the Crimson Tide defense but also nabbed South Alabama strength coach Matt Shadeed as well.
Now, sources tell FootballScoop, Alabama and DeBoer are making an additional staff addition of significance.
Zach Mathers, most recently Samford's assistant athletics director for sports performance and a key cog on Chris Hatcher's Bulldogs staff, has accepted a role in the strength and conditioning/sports performance department at Alabama, sources told FootballScoop Wednesday afternoon.
Mathers has been heralded nationwide for his cutting-edge work in implementing information gleaned from data into tangible results.
In addition to his direct work with the Samford football program, Mathers also was in charge of what the university dubbed 'Project SAMson.'
The methodology for that program was to implement results from the data testing across all intercollegiate sports at Samford and not just the Bulldogs football team.
Mathers's work has been featured nationally in Sports Business Journal and Samford also previously touted his role in the unprecedented approach.
“Our number one goal in these areas is bigger, faster, stronger," Mathers said in a Samford publication, "while also keeping our athletes healthy and safe so they can play to the best of their ability. With the new technology and analytics, we will be able to see how the exercises our athletes do during training translates to their performance on the field."
The addition of Mathers is yet one more step closer for DeBoer to have a complete staff, both on and off the field. The Tide lost just-added linebackers coach William Inge to Tennessee this week and replaced a pair of departures of assistants to the NFL as well.
Alabama opens its 2024 season with back-to-back home games against Western Kentucky and USF before traveling to Wisconsin in an SEC-Big Ten intersectional clash.