"I said 'How about you stop breathing?'": West Alabama HC Scott Cochran recounts his struggle with addiction, recalls heated convo with doctor

Scott Cochran was hired as the head coach of West Alabama in early February, making his return to the college ranks after sitting out the 2024 season. Part of the reason he sat out the 2024 season was to get control of his addiction. Cochran has dealt with an opioid addiction for several years but reportedly has it under control now.

On Wednesday, Cochran appeared on 'The Triple Option.' On the show, he spoke about his new position as the Tigers head coach. However, towards the end of the show, he opened up about his addiction and his struggle to get it under control (starts at 37:15).

"Yeah so, you know I started getting migraines really bad like 2009, 2010. I went to the doc and they were like, 'why don't you stop yelling?' I was like, 'how about this doc? How about you stop breathing? That's what you're asking me to do.' So, he put me on a few different medications and nothing really worked. Then he wrote me a script for oxy.

"He told me, this is addictive, you got to be careful. Listen, I'm the head strength coach at Alabama, I'm winning championships, I'm on the jumbotron, I'm on 60 minutes, I'm on ESPN. I'm not gonna get addicted to this thing, but sure enough by 2015 it got completely out of control. It was running my life. It was a daily grind. For 10 years it was every day."

Scott Cochran now has a chance to rejuvenate his career at West Alabama

As a strength coach for Alabama and Georgia from 2007 to 2023, Scott Cochran had the opportunity to experience a lot of winning. However, being in that high-pressure environment contributed to his addiction. Now he is returning to Alabama, but not the Crimson Tide. Instead, he is taking his first head coaching job as a member of the West Alabama Tigers.

Since arriving in February, Cochran has already started making moves to improve his coaching staff. He added former Alabama linebacker, Reggie Ragland, as the team's player personnel director.

"Reggie Ragland is a proven leader with a championship mentality, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him join the UWA family as our Director of Player Personnel," Cochran said. "As a Super Bowl champion and former SEC Defensive Player of the Year, he knows exactly what it takes to compete and win at the highest levels."

Scott Cochran will be looking to build on a strong 2024 season where the Tigers went 9-2.