Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins spends his summers on the move.
An active guy at heart, Eakins has an unrelenting desire for self-improvement. Over the last few years, the Ducks bench boss has made a habit of traveling to observe prominent coaching staffs across multiple mediums, hoping to learn more about how others manage the challenges of overseeing a complex operation.
This past summer, one of those trips was to Tuscaloosa for some time studying the University of Alabama football program and legendary head coach Nick Saban.
Saban’s reign at the highest peaks of the college football world are well-known, as are his patented snark and obsessive attention to detail. He’s a seven-time national champion, a former NFL head coach and will surely go down as one of the best coaches in the history of the sport.
For Eakins, the trip was a chance to gain some valuable insight in a place much different from home, in the midst of one of the profession’s greats. What he didn’t expect was to meet an influential figure from just down the road, 30 years his junior.
In some ways, Eakins and Alex Chery are quite alike. Chery, a 16-year-old from Newport Beach, is a fitness fiend himself, constantly eager to learn more about self-improvement and what drives elite athletes.
