From Gators to Tide: Rockingham native heads to Alabama

Dillman departs Gainesville for Tuscaloosa

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

It’s been a roller coaster of a ride as the college football coaching carousel works its way through the offseason. The ride continued earlier this week as it was learned that Jeff Dillman has been named assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The 38-year-old Richmond Senior High School graduate follows three years with the Florida Gators in Gainesville, where he was director of strength and conditioning. Florida head coach Will Muschamp was let go after his teams compiled a 29-21 record over four seasons in Gainesville. His squad’s best was 2012, when the Gators went 11-2.

Jeff Dillman

Jeff Dillman

Florida followed up, however, with a 4-8 campaign in 2013. The Gators finished a disappointing 7-5 this season and Muschamp was fired before Florida held off East Carolina University on Jan. 3 in the Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

The transition was first reported here. Dillman’s salary wasn’t immediately available, as his hiring has not yet been announced by university officials. In Gainesville, Dillman earned a base salary of $215,000 plus $10,000 per year in Nike sponsorship money.

Dillman played football and baseball for the Richmond Raiders. After moving on to Elon College and then transferring to Appalachian State University, he earned a bachelor’s of science degree in exercise science.

Florida.247Sports.com notes that Dillman “has plenty of ties to the Nick Saban strength tree, having worked under Tommy Moffitt at LSU on the same staff as current Alabama director of strength and conditioning Scott Cochran.”

Before arriving at Florida, Dillman was head of physical conditioning at the IMG Performance Institute in Bradenton, Fla. From 2006 to 2009, Dillman toiled as the director of strength and conditioning at Appalachian State University in Boone. During his tenure, the Mountaineers pulled off a 34-32 upset over fifth-ranked Michigan on Sept. 1, 2007 — in Ann Arbor — a game that Sports Illustrated called the “greatest upset of all time.”

Appalachian State won two national titles while Dillman worked with the team. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The Tigers won the SEC and Bowl Championship Series titles in 2003 while Dillman was on staff.

 

 

 

 

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