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Terms apply. The punter is on the field for L S U. Hangs it. Had an opportunity for Perkins back there at about the 21-yard line. LSU.
wins the BCS National Championship. Nick Sabin coming across the field. Shake hands with Bob Stoops. Just like that, we got a champion and a great moment for Scott Cochrane. He was the strength coach for that team, and Scott Cochran is now the West Alabama head football coach.
And his journey there is truly noteworthy, and he's trying to spread what he's learned then and how he's been such an inspiration to so many. And his book is called Skull session, mastering the mental game in sports, work, and life. Coach, welcome to the Brian Killmeat show. Man, thank you so much for having me on, baby. Fired up to be here.
Well, for a change, you're not really fired up much in your life. I watched the special on you on ESPN, truly amazing. First off, The pressure you put on yourself. How much did that have to do with the problem you had a little bit later with drinking? Yeah, I think it's all-encompassing, right?
I think, you know, it started off with migraines because I yell a lot, you know, and so they. The doctors, you know, gave me oxycodon and they said, Hey, this is addictive. And at the time, you know, I'm a strength coach. I'm, you know, very successful. Everything's going great.
And you're going to tell me I'm going to get addicted to a pill, right?
So. It's all encompassing. I think the stress, the yelling, all of it came in.
So the role of Nick Stavid in your life? Yes, he, man, I've worked for him for 18 years, 18 years with Coach Saban. And man, what an honor and a privilege. What did he see in you? I think he saw somebody that cared about the players.
I think he saw someone that Could do exactly what he needed from a strength and conditioning and a mental development. Position And you produce for them. And for a team to be that successful, for a program to be that successful, everyone's got to work. But Scott, a lot of times strengths coaches aren't football coaches. You're just strength.
You could be a bodybuilder, whatever it is. You know strength. And you know what what that sport needs. Uh you're a football guy fundamentally though, right? Who who taught you the game?
JT Curtis, my high school coach, he's out of New Orleans, and he's probably one of the winningest. If he's not the winningest, he will be this season, high school coach in the country. But that's who I learned from. And obviously, working for Coach Sabin, that's really who I learned how to tweak and how to pay attention to the details.
So considering all the success you've had at different programs, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, West Alabama is not the biggest program, but it's probably the most perfect program for you. Why? It's perfect because. They understand that I'm a man in recovery, number one, and number two. the location.
My babies were born in Tuscaloosa, and I'm an hour from Tuscaloosa.
So for me, It's great because I get to be around players, and that's where I thrive. You know, it's interesting, Scott, too, on another level. It's going to be pretty rare if these guys go pro.
So you really have to have the student athlete. And that plays to your strength, right? Then you're not going to have the prima donnas, no offense, that think they're bigger than the program. And if you yell at them, they're going to just transfer and go to the portal. You don't have that, do you?
No, I don't. We this spring, I had zero guys transfer. And I was trying to create spots. And I was grateful for it, you know, because they bought in. They bought into the program.
That's one thing that is really cool around here is that the players love football. And that's so much fun to coach. But do you think the strength of Scott Cochran now is you have balance? Because I also heard balance is overrated to some people, that you have to have focus. But do you have more of a balance than the strength coach at Alabama and LSU?
Do you have more of a balance now as head coach? Yes, very much so. You know. Through my job, through my addiction, my family. You know, took the brunt of it.
They were what I call my hostages, you know. And now, what would you do? You'd come home and be sullen, or would you come? I'd come home and be exhausted. Or I'd have to get on the phone and talk to a player's mom or dad because the job just never ended.
And I embraced it. I loved it. But I had no idea that my family, even though I was there, I really wasn't present for them.
So you wrote this book, yeah, it's about you, but you wanted to, you want to help other people. And not just people that took OxyContin and couldn't stop. What did you what do you want to relay to somebody that never put on the iBlack or the helmet that you that you that could benefit from talking to you and reading this book? Yeah, I think everyone is trying to have success in their field, right? They're just trying to take one step to be great.
And Through my recovery, through all the character development we have done at LSU, Alabama, and Georgia, we had this program and it was called Skull Sessions.
So, if you're trying to take your organization to another level to kind of give it that edge, it's a step-by-step process. And along the way, you get to hear cool stories and you get to hear about my downfall and how I'm able to brush it off and come right back. And that, and when people relate to you, you go, well, I had that story, but it was Wall Street. I had that story, but it was my own business. And my business failed, and you know, I was destroyed.
That was my self-esteem.
So, do they all fit to your skull session? Yes, for sure. You can easily find a way, whether it's individually. I'm just better with organizations and teams.
So if you're a CEO and you're trying to get your company to take that next step, Here's a simple plan that we used. And it's simple things like how to write your goals. Everybody has a plan and what they do to write their goals, but normally they write their goals down and they never see their goals again. Right.
So now we have a plan. We're going to put these goals on paper, on a mirror, on a post-it, on your mirror. And you get to look at that every morning, every night. And I might becoming that. And what people say too, if you want to reach that goal, ask your question why.
You wanna be rich? Why? Are you trying to prove something to somebody?
Well, that's not gonna work because when you get there, you're not gonna feel satisfied.
So, why do you wanna be my middle linebacker? Why, you know, why, you know, we watched, I watched the Jerry Jones documentary. And yeah, he was captain of his football team, but he said that, you know, he was not the best player, knew he wasn't going to be pro. You know what his senior thesis was? How to own a football team.
And then how to market a football team. And even though he was drilling oil in the back of his head he wanted to own a football team. That's the type of things that you get from skull sessions, right? Yes, sir, exactly right. You know, and it's that little step.
And the cool part is, it's the same way in recovery. You know, when you're down and out and you're trying to figure out how do I get out of this hole, this pit that I've dug for myself, because at the end of the day, you have no one to blame.
So it's a very similar parallel. How do I write my goals? How do I talk to myself? What am I saying to myself?
So it's got here's the other thing If a winning is everything, You you're telling a story that you hit bottom.
So you You're showing vulnerability. For a long time, I imagined Scott Cochran thought vulnerability was weakness. I better not show players any of that. How tough was that move? That was, you know, it was very freeing, you know, to be able to surrender and say, you know what?
I can't do this by myself was really cool to see how many people jumped in the boat instead of kicking the boat to the side. They jumped in and they were like, okay, how can I help you? How can I help you? And it's amazing when you ask friends, when you ask family for help, how they respond. You know, because it's the last thing you would ever think to do.
I got this. I can handle it. I'm the guy that helps everybody. And then you ask for help yourself. And then all of a sudden, an army shows up, you know?
And that's great. And you could tell the other kids, other kids, you never know what people are going through. Did you find that most of the people were shocked? You mentioned Nick Sabin was shocked. Right.
Were most people shocked outside your family? Yeah, my wife was completely shocked. Had no idea. She knew I struggled really bad with migraines, but she also trusted the doctor that I went to. Little did she know that I stopped going to that doctor and found one that would write me different scripts.
But she knew I was, I had pain, but she had no idea that I had taken it to the level that I took it until I overdosed. And she found me. Overdosed. And lastly, Scott Cochrane, how's the team going to be this year? Man, I hope we're going to be good.
That's the coolest thing about football is you always find out. Right.
If it works or if it doesn't. Yes, and you hope it does. And I feel like you're going into that feeling of optimism. Scott Cochran, thanks so much. Congratulations on Skull Session and your life.
You're the strength and conditioning coach, but now head coach over two decades. And the book is called Mastering the Mental Game in Sports Work and Life. Scott, thanks so much. Thank you for having me on. You got it.
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