Clemson and Alabama are among the heavyweights in college football and have met in the NCAA Championship Game three of the six years the College Football Playoff has been in existence. Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney are regarded as two of the best coaches in the sport and have immense respect for each other. But during this time, they have some slightly differing philosophies.
Saban said on Thursday that Alabama’s new strength staff gave Apple Watches to their players to monitor workouts as schools are closed due to the coronavirus.
Nick Saban on the new strength staff: "Hopefully this will help us with injury prevention and be ready when the time comes." Also adds the new strength coaches have helped provide Apple watches for players to monitor workouts virtually & "done a really good job of managing this."
— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) April 2, 2020
That set off some debates about the legality of such a move within NCAA guidelines. Bama says they talked with the SEC about doing it and things were approved.
Either way, it’s not something Dabo is doing at Clemson, and he says that’s because they can trust their players.
Dabo: "Our guys are putting the work in, I don't need an Apple watch to track them"
— Anna Hickey (@AnnaH247) April 3, 2020
Dabo says it is not his interpretation that tracking players via Apple Watch is allowed by NCAA (which Saban says Bama is doing.) “We don’t need an Apple Watch to know our guys are doing the right thing."
— Hi, I’m David (@ADavidHaleJoint) April 3, 2020
Maybe Swinney didn’t think of the Apple Watch move, or maybe he really doesn’t find it necessary. In any case, Saban’s move has many wondering how Bama is getting away with it.
As for Dabo, he has serious confidence in the upcoming season being played.
