I always thought players hated a really good strength coach. ????
rarely. the coaching staff is highly regulated numbers of contact sessions with the players. the strength coaches are not. therefore the strength coach spends 5 to 10 times as amount of time hours with the kids.
everyone gets motivated differently but drill sergeant doesn't work that well and doesn't work for long. you can only keep that face on for a while until they realize you're human too.
it's pretty natural for the kids to bond with the strength coaches. they see them as helping all those off-season size and strength goals and getting them to where they need to be.
that being said maybe one of the most important positions for a new coach. few would trust an unknown.
frankly Savage was minimally qualified when he got here. I think he was a ga or not far removed from being a graduate assistant.
if his reputation is good he'll find a job quickly. I just don't know enough about his techniques and the metrics regarding how much bigger or faster the kids got over time to offer any sort of opinion. I see some pretty small kids on the field but frankly they were recruited at an extremely small size usually without much of a frame, so I'm not certain that that's on Savage. Im talking specifically about linebacker and defensive end.