LINCOLN, Neb. — When Marcus Satterfield joined Matt Rhule as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator 17 months ago he told the Huskers’ new coach about a nutritionist that he should try to hire. Instantly, Rhule’s curiosity jumped.
“Satt’s one of those guys who is all football,” Rhule said.
If Satterfield was talking about nutrition, Rhule figured he had discovered something special. So Rhule reached out to Kristin Coggin, who had spent the past six years at South Carolina — including the 2021 and ‘22 seasons alongside Satterfield.
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Jump to a morning scene this week at the new Osborne Legacy Complex. Nebraska football players filed in and out of Coggin’s office, situated at a corner of the main intersection on the ground floor, adjacent to a large refueling station between the gleaming weight room and recovery headquarters.
At 33, Coggin, the Huskers’ director of performance nutrition, commands respect in her chair. The daughter of a dietician and retired U.S. Army Reserve major general, she’s paid like a boss at $190,000 per year, and Nebraska apparently got her at a bargain. Coggin is the best in her business, according to Rhule.
“She’s phenomenal,” he said. “That’s not hyperbole. She’s that good.”
"We talk about a brotherhood, and one of the best ways to build that is over breaking 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 with the football program exclusively. Their task begins with the creation of specialized feeding plans for every player on the roster. But there’s much more to it.
“Not everyone is going to make it to the next level,” Coggin said. “Not everyone is going to have to work out or run anymore. But they’re always going to have to eat.”
Her staff dives deep into educating football players about nutrition. Athletes learn to prepare food. Cooking demonstrations for visiting recruits serve as a preview of players’ time in the program.
Coggin is known to arrive at work before 4 a.m. on mornings when the Huskers practice.
“She’s amazing in that there’s no detail too big or too small,” Rhule said. “She has a personal relationship with all of the players. She has a personal relationship with most of their families. She’s as passionate about what she does as Donovan Raiola is about O-line play, as Tony White is about tackling.
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“I’ve never had anyone like her work for me. I literally don’t have to worry about anything in that world. I don’t think you could find a player on this team and mention her name who wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, my God, this is what she means.’”
Coggin tends equally to the nutrition needs of Nebraska coaches and their families. When Rhule visited Scotland in March, Coggin asked him to text her pictures of his meals. When a group of Muslim players observed Ramadan, Coggin made an eating plan to fit their fasting schedules.
She pushes secondary coach Evan Cooper to simply eat more food. She reminds Rhule to refuel between meals. Coggin understands the food allergies of everyone connected to the program.
“Relationships don’t stop when you leave the office,” Coggin said. “Nutrition never takes a break. We are constantly working on things to make this place even better.”
Soon after Rhule received the recommendation from Satterfield, he brought Coggin to Lincoln for an interview. In that conversation, Coggin said she saw that their visions and standards aligned.
“It was like, ‘Wow, this man supports everything that I’m about,” Coggin said. “Why would I not want to work for him?’”
Rhule asked her what she would need to do her job better than anyone in the country. Coggin grabbed a pen and paper and wrote it out for him.
The complexity and cost of her plan stunned Rhule, never mind the commitment to execute it. But he appreciated Coggin’s candor and confidence.
Rhule carried the request to athletic director Trev Alberts.
“I was nervous to take it up there,” Rhule said. “But to Trev’s credit, he did it.”
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Coggin learned about ambition along the path to Nebraska from her mentors in the nutrition and dietary environment. Born and raised in Pulaski, Tenn., she attended Tennessee — where her father and her brother went to school — and walked on the rowing team.
The sport was new to her. But she earned a scholarship after one semester. When diagnosed with Celiac disease and treated for the autoimmune disorder triggered by the body’s reaction to gluten, her athletic performance jumped.
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She began in college as an engineering major and later applied to dental school. But Coggin found her calling in athletics after working with Allison Maurer, a sports nutritionist at Tennessee.
Coggin earned a degree in psychology and another in nutrition. A dietetic internship in California followed. She worked with respected nutritionist Becci Twombley at USC. Coggin’s first full-time job at Alabama in 2015 connected her with Amy Bragg, who helped bring NCAA reform that allowed nutritionists to work in step with student-athletes to create personalized eating plans.
In 2017, Coggin left Alabama to run her own program at South Carolina.
Along the way, she observed former Tennessee basketball coaching legend Pat Summit and worked with a list of coaches that included Lane Kiffin, Butch Jones, Steve Sarkisian, Will Muschamp, Shane Beamer, Avery Johnson, Dawn Staley, Frank Martin and Nick Saban.
“If you want to be the best,” she said, “you’ve got to work with the best.”
As much as coaches impacted Coggin, relationships with players resonated more deeply. Her list of favorites includes Raekwon Davis at Alabama and Gamecocks Deebo Samuel, Javon Kinlaw, D.J. Wonnum, Jaycee Horn, MarShawn Lloyd and Xavier Legette, selected last month in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Many of Coggin’s former players stay in touch with her. The same type of connections are blossoming at Nebraska.
“She’s opening doors for the guys on our team to see the parts of their lives that some of them might not have known they had,” Rhule said.
For instance, Coggin said she expects that defensive lineman Elijah Jeudy will build on his Nebraska experience to work as a chef.
This spring, under Coggin’s direction, Nebraska held 11 cooking demonstrations for its football players and two “Chopped” competitions, playing off the Food Network show on which individuals receive a basket of ingredients and work to create something tasty from it.
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By early this summer, Nebraska’s new training table on the second level of the Osborne Complex will open. It’s there to serve all student-athletes — not just football players — and it will feature an expanded demo kitchen in addition to numerous upgrades over the existing facility.
Food consumption is serious business for Division I athletes. In whatever way Coggin can make it fun and educational, she will. But she’s also as tough as any coach on the staff.
“I tell the players all the time,” Coggin said, “don’t think I won’t call your mom.”
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On a normal practice day, Coggin’s recommended breakfast for an average Nebraska player includes five or six eggs, three or four pancakes, bacon, fruit and yogurt. After practice, it’s time to down a 900-calorie protein shake, then she wants them to eat again every two hours from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Her staff monitors water consumption, too. For each player, one gallon per day, plus electrolyte-laced sports drinks, is the minimum.
“It gets repetitive,” Coggin said. “They eat a ton of food. Some of them get tired of eating. And it looks different for all of them. But they have to be consistent.”
For a picky eater like Riley Van Poppel, it can be challenging. He’s a 280-pound defensive lineman who would like to add another 10 to 20 pounds during his collegiate career. Van Poppel arrived at Nebraska a year ago around 270 pounds.
He lost a few pounds while playing as a true freshman. So now, he’s making progress.
“I’m a plain guy,” he said. “On sandwiches, I like meat and cheese, not much else. Same with my burgers. I could eat steak and potatoes all day. My biggest struggle is with greens, the veggies, and trying to get bigger but also slim down my body fat.”
Coggin got him to do something Van Poppel’s mother could not — mix spinach into his post-workout shakes.
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Alecia Van Poppel is amazed by Coggin’s work with Riley. In 18 years at home, she could hardly get him to try a vegetable.
“I’m like, ‘What?’” Alecia Van Poppel said. “‘He’s eating greens?’ She’s getting him to eat broccoli and teaching him the leaner side about food? I love that.”
Riley’s older siblings played volleyball and baseball at smaller colleges. The thought of sending Riley to a big football program scared his mom. She worried that he’d get lost in the mix.
“Who’s going to take care of him?” she said. “But once I met coach Rhule and his staff, that put me at such ease. He answered some really honest questions I had for him about these situations that a mom thinks about. Where does he turn to?
“So I felt comforted in that way. And I continue to be comforted by the communication.”
Coggin tries to attend every meal that’s served during recruiting visits. Her message to parents when she meets them: “We genuinely do care about these kids. It’s scary to leave them, but we’re going to teach them some skills. And then I am like (his) mom away from home.”
Coggin’s office in the new complex sits near Corey Campbell and Mitch Cholewinski in strength and conditioning and sports science. They meet at least once a week and share data on every player, often involving athletic medicine, sports psychology and player development in the conversations.
Riley Van Poppel said he marvels at Coggin’s dedication to the Huskers’ nutrition.
“I think she’s unbelievable,” Van Poppel said, “her and her staff as well. It’s hard for me to eat what I need, but they’re always recommending new things. They’ll sit down with me and plan out a weekend. And (Coggin) is always there.
“Even if you don’t want her there, she’s there.”
(Top photo: Mitch Sherman / The Athletic)
