Report: Alabama football staffer to join the New Orleans Saints

Alabama director of sports science Matt Rhea will join the New Orleans Saints, per college football reporter Josh Pate. He has spent the past two seasons with the Crimson Tide after joining the football program in March of 2020.

Under Rhea, Alabama opened a new Sports Science Center in July of 2020. Using the center’s state-of-the-art technology, he collected data from the Crimson Tide’s practices and workouts to help the strength and conditioning staff, along with team nutritionists, determine the best path to development for each individual athlete. He worked in tandem with director of sports performance David Ballou, who is expected to remain with the team.

Rhea graduated from Arizona State in 2004 with a PhD in philosophy with an exercise and sports science focus. He brings 13 years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach, including five years with NFL combine training and three at the collegiate level. Prior to his arrival in Tuscaloosa, he was the performance coordinator for the Indiana Hoosiers football team.

The former Alabama staffer was also the head of sport science at famous Florida prep school IMG Academy from 2016-17. Rhea has published nearly 100 studies on sports performance enhancement, lecturing in seven different countries. He even launched a consulting company in 2001 that offered help to NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and Olympic athletes as well as college athletic departments.

New Orleans narrowly missed the playoffs this past season after finishing with a 9-8 record. Longtime head coach Sean Payton retired in the offseason, and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was promoted as his replacement. The team has plenty of questions entering 2022, including who its starting quarterback will be. But with the addition of the former Alabama football sports science wiz, the Saints continue to make moved that assure themselves a bright future.