We’ve explored Cochran’s change of jobs from the Georgia angle and from the Alabama angle. Now Ross Dellinger takes a look at it from the strength coach’s perspective.
While many paint Cochran as the spoils in an on-going war between SEC coaches Kirby Smart and Nick Saban, the world of strength coaches is collectively scratching its head over such a stunning and rare shift. That includes those who know Cochran best here in Baton Rouge, where the man got his start under Moffitt.
“Big shocker to the industry,” Moffitt says. “For somebody that is a top-five highest paid strength coach in the country and is the face of Alabama football to some degree—there’s Nick Saban and then there’s Scott Cochran; Scott’s got commercials!—it was a shocker.”
Longtime strength coaching leaders call the move unparalleled in the history of the business.
It may be an even bigger shocker now than when it was announced, considering that Ohio State’s Mickey Mariotti just saw his pay bumped to a whopping $801,150 next season, which in turn means Iowa’s S&C coach is about to get a nice, new payday.
That’s a lot of short term moolah for a guy to forego in hopes of chasing his dream to become a head coach. Hope it works out for him.
Get The Picture 
Cochran knew he was taking a flyer. That’s why he accepted a pay cut to get an on-field position. Kirby also got the “we’re bros” discount to hire him. If it doesn’t work out, I’m sure a school will be happy to throw anOSU type of money for him to run their S&C program.
The fact that this is still an object of conversation in the CFB world is golden to Kirby and his desire for publicity for the program. #ABC
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Who would you rather have? A man that’s motivated to make a name for himself and succeed? Or the man who’s been there, just looking for a paycheck and his next opportunity? I think Cochran will succeed.
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I applaud Cochran for wanting to do something different in his career. In the real world of non-athletics this is SOP, if you want to change careers. You re-start at the bottom and work your way up to where you were before you switched.
I also applaud Kirby for giving Scott the opportunity to pursue his dream.
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