LINCOLN, Neb. — When Marcus Satterfield joined Matt Rhule as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator 17 months ago, he told the Huskers’ new coach he should hire a nutritionist. Immediately, Ruhl’s curiosity was piqued.
“Sat is one of those guys who is all about soccer,” Rhule said.
If Satterfield was talking about nutrition, Rhule thought he had discovered something special. So Rhule reached out to Christine Coggin, who spent the past six years at South Carolina with Satterfield, including the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
This week, jump into a morning view of the new Osborn Legacy Complex. Nebraska football players went in and out of Coggin’s office, located on the corner of a major intersection on the ground floor and adjacent to a large gas station between a gleaming weight room and recovery headquarters.
Coggin, 33, is the Huskers’ director of performance nutrition and commands respect in his chair. Her nutritionist, the daughter of a retired U.S. Army Reserve major general, is paid a premium salary of $190,000 a year, and Nebraska apparently got her on the cheap. Ruhl said Coggin is the best at what she does.
“She’s phenomenal,” he said. “That’s not an exaggeration. She’s very good.”
“We talk about brotherhood, and one of the best ways to build it is to break bread with your brothers.” – @kristin_coggin #GBR pic.twitter.com/REV5x2XqVj
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) July 22, 2023
Coggin directs a staff of five full-time nutritionists, including performance chef Julian Franklin and chef Jordan Eubanks. They work exclusively with the football program. Their job begins by creating feeding plans specific to every player on the roster. But that’s not all.
“Not everyone can make it to the next level,” Coggin said. “Not everyone needs to work out or run anymore. But they always have to eat.”
Her staff is deeply committed to educating soccer players about nutrition. Athletes learn to prepare meals. A cooking demonstration for visiting recruits serves as a preview of the players’ time in the program.
Coggin is known for arriving to work before 4 a.m. on mornings when the Huskers practice.
“She’s great in that nothing is too big or too small,” Ruhl said. “She has a personal relationship with all of her players. She has a personal relationship with most of their families. Donovan Raiola is passionate about O-line play, Tony White is passionate about tackling. She is just as passionate about what she does.
“I’ve never had anyone like her work for me. I literally don’t have to worry about anything in that world. I’m just going to put her name up on this team and say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what she means.’ I don’t think there’s a player who doesn’t say, ‘I’m about to do it.’
Coggin is equally attentive to the nutritional needs of Nebraska coaches and their families. When Ruhl visited Scotland in March, Coggin asked her to send him a photo of her meal via text message. When a group of Muslim players celebrated Ramadan, Coggin created a meal plan that worked with their fasting schedule.
She encouraged secondary coach Evan Cooper to eat more. She reminded the rules to fuel up between meals. Coggin understands the food allergies of everyone involved in the program.
“Relationships don’t stop when you leave the office,” Coggin says. “We never rest on nutrition. We’re always working to make this place even better.”
Before joining Nebraska, Coggin spent six seasons as South Carolina’s football nutrition director and two years as Alabama’s performance nutrition coordinator. (Mitch Sherman/The Athletic)
As soon as Rule received Satterfield’s recommendation, he brought Coggin to Lincoln for an interview. During that conversation, Coggin said she found that their vision and standards were aligned.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this person is rooting for me in everything,'” Coggin said. “Why wouldn’t I want to work for him?”
Ruhl asked her what it would take to do her job better than anyone else in the country. Coggin picked up a pen and paper and she wrote it for him.
The complexity and expense of her plan astounded Ruhl, but her determination to carry it out didn’t. However, he appreciated Coggin’s candor and her confidence.
Rhule relayed that request to athletic director Trev Alberts.
“I was nervous going up there,” Rhule said. “But to Trev’s credit, he did it.”
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Along the way to Nebraska, Coggin learned about ambition from nutrition and food environment leaders. She was born and raised in Pulaski, Tennessee, and attended Tennessee State, where her father and her brother attended, and was on the rowing team.
The sport was new to her. However, she won her scholarship after one semester. When she was diagnosed with celiac disease and treated for the autoimmune disease caused by her body’s reaction to gluten, her athletic performance improved dramatically.
She majored in engineering in college and then enrolled in dental school. But after Coggin worked with Tennessee sports nutritionist Alison Maurer, she found her calling in track and field.
Coggin earned a degree in psychology and also earned a degree in nutrition. This was followed by a nutritionist internship in California. She worked alongside her girlfriend Becci Twombley, a respected nutritionist at USC. Coggin took her first full-time job at the University of Alabama in 2015, where she connected with Amy Bragg. Bragg was instrumental in implementing NCAA reforms that allow dietitians to work alongside student-athletes to create individualized meal plans.
In 2017, Coggin left Alabama to run his own program in South Carolina.
Along the way, she observed former Tennessee basketball coach legendary Pat Summitt, and coached players such as Lane Kiffin, Butch Jones, Steve Sarkisian, Will Muschamp, Shane Beamer, Avery Johnson, Dawn Staley, Worked with coaching staff including Frank Martin and Nick Saban.
“If you want to be the best, you have to work with the best people,” she said.
As much as the coaches influenced Coggin, his relationships with the players resonated even more deeply. Her list of favorites includes Alabama’s Raekwon Davis and the Gamecocks’ Deebo Samuel, Javon Kinlaw, DJ Wonnum, Jaycee Horn, Marshawn Lloyd and last month’s first-round NFL Draft pick, Xavier.・Contains leggets.
Many of Coggin’s former players remain in touch with her. Similar connections are blooming in Nebraska.
“She opens the door for members of our team to see parts of life they didn’t know existed,” Ruhl said.
For example, Coggin said he expects defensive lineman Elijah Jeudy to use his experience at Nebraska to work as a chef.
This spring, under Coggin’s direction, Nebraska held 11 cooking demonstrations and two “Chopped” contests for football players, where each person received a basket of food and made something delicious from it. The food network show that makes.
Nebraska’s new training table is expected to open on the second floor of the Osborn complex by early this summer. The facility is there to serve all student-athletes, not just football players, and features an expanded demo kitchen in addition to numerous upgrades to the existing facility.
Food consumption is a serious issue for Division I athletes. Coggin will make it fun and educational in every way he can. But she’s also as tough as any other coach on the staff.
“I always tell my players, don’t think I’m not going to call your mom,” Coggin said.
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On a typical practice day, Coggin’s recommended breakfast for the average Nebraska player includes five to six eggs, three to four pancakes, bacon, fruit and yogurt. After practice, she said, it’s time for her to drink a 900-calorie protein shake, then eat again every two hours from 12:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Her staff also monitors water consumption. The minimum intake for each player is one gallon per day plus a sports drink with electrolytes.
“It bears repeating,” Coggin said. “They eat a lot of food. Some get tired of eating it. And they all look different. But they have to be consistent.”
For a picky eater like Riley Van Poppel, that can be difficult. He is a 280-pound defensive lineman who hopes to gain another 10 to 20 pounds during his college career. Van Poppel arrived at Nebraska a year ago weighing about 270 pounds.
He lost a few pounds while playing as a true freshman. So now he’s making progress.
“I’m a down-to-earth guy,” he said. “I like meat and cheese on sandwiches, and not much else. My burgers are the same. I could eat steak and potatoes all day. My biggest struggle is eating vegetables and greens. , to reduce body fat while increasing body size.
Coggin got Van Poppel to do what his mother couldn’t do: add spinach to his post-workout shake.
Alecia Van Poppel is amazed by Coggin and Riley’s work. Although she had been in her home for 18 years, she could hardly get her son to sample vegetables.
“I’m like, ‘What?'” Alecia van Poppel said. “Is he eating vegetables?” Is she feeding him broccoli and teaching him the slim side about food? I like that. “
Riley’s older brothers played volleyball and baseball at a small college. The idea of sending Riley to a big football program terrified his mother. She feared he would get lost in it.
“Who will take care of him?” she said. “But after meeting Coach Rhule and his staff, I felt very at ease. He answered some really honest questions I had for him about these situations that mothers think of. Where will he turn?
“So I felt comforted in that way. And I’m still comforted by that communication.”
Coggin makes it a point to attend any meals provided during recruiting visits. Her message when she met her parents was: She is scared to leave them, but she will teach them some skills. And I’m like (his) mother who left home. ”
Coggin’s office in the new complex is located near Corey Campbell and Mitch Kolewinski of Strength & Conditioning and Sports Science. They meet at least once a week to share data on all players, and conversations often include exercise medicine, sports psychology, and player development.
Riley Van Poppel said she marvels at Coggin’s dedication to nourishing the Husker family.
“I think she’s an incredible person,” Van Poppel said. “So are her and her staff. It’s hard to eat what I need, but they always recommend new things. They’ll sit down with me and make plans for the weekend. And ( Coggin) is always there.
“Even if you don’t want her there, she’s there.”
(Top photo: Mitch Sherman/ The Athletic)
