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For years, perhaps no Alabama football coach outside of Nick Saban was more closely associated with the Crimson Tide’s dynasty than Scott Cochran, the strength and conditioning coach whose methods helped mold players who guided the program to five national championships in his 13 seasons there.
As Cochran became an exalted figure around Tuscaloosa and the broader college football world, he was quietly engaged in an ongoing struggle with addiction.
In a story published on ESPN.com Wednesday, the longtime Saban assistant at Alabama and LSU — who later went on to Georgia, where he was part of two championship-winning teams for the Bulldogs — detailed his battles with opioid abuse.
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“My life’s a little different now,” Cochran said to ESPN. “I attack it a little different. I have to be right where my feet are 24/7. If I start thinking about the future, I’m going to start stressing about the dumb s—, right? And I’m going to miss this. I’m going to miss this moment right here with y’all.
“If I start thinking about the past, that’s shame. It’s shame in that past. There’s shame back there. ‘Man, I can’t believe I’ve ruined all this, all that.’ So, if I can just be right where my feet are, if I can find that juice, that energy to be who I need to be right here in this moment, this is nothing different from football.”
Known for his resonant, gravelly voice and his unrelenting enthusiasm, traits that earned him the nickname “Coach Yeah,” Cochran was named the Samson Strength & Conditioning coach of the year in 2008 and 2011. By 2016, he was the highest-paid strength coach at the FBS level, bringing in $525,000 per year.
The characteristics that made him such an effective coach also caused him to experience persistent…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/former-alabama-assistant-scott-cochran-235240026.html
Author : The Tuscaloosa News
Publish date : 2024-09-25 23:52:40
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