Scott Cochran Announces First Year of Sobriety
Former Alabama strength and conditioning coordinator and current Georgia special teams coach Scott Cochran took to Instagram on Monday to announce that he had been sober for one year.
"Proud to be 1 year sober. This one means a lil more than the rings," Cochran wrote in the social media post that featured him holding Alcoholics Anonymous's one year chip while wearing all of his national championship rings and has garnered him a substantial amount of support from colleagues, former players, and the public.
Under the post were shows of support from former pupils of his like "YEA YEA YEA!!! The worlds greatest!! Love you brother!!!" from Mark Ingram, "Love you coach!!" from Mac Jones, and "Blessings 🙏🏽‼️" from Damien Harris.
In August, just before the start of the 2021 campaign, Cochran stepped away from the Bulldog program "to prioritize his mental health and well-being," per Kirby Smart himself, and returned to the program in mid-October. Another member of the Saban coaching tree, Will Muschamp, filled the role in an interim fashion.
It's unclear whether or not his journey with sobriety played a role in Cochran stepping away from the program, but it may have been a factor.
Cochran just wrapped up his second season as an on the field assistant coach and won his first national championship on a team coached by someone other than Saban. The two had been working together since Saban's second season in Baton Rouge when Cochran was just a graduate assistant.