Scott Cochran had the coaching itch. As the 2024 season came to an end, the longtime Alabama football strength and conditioning coach, Nick Saban’s right-hand man, knew he wanted to get back in the game.

The calls began coming in, most of them for strength or special teams jobs, just like he’d held for most of his career in college football.

“It was all assistant calls,” Cochran said Friday in Livingston, shortly after West Alabama introduced him as its new head coach. “And I had no idea, I had no idea that this would be an option.”

The Division II Tigers needed a new head coach. Brett Gilliland, who had held the job for 11 seasons, was moving upstairs as athletics director.

Gilliland and UWA were searching for his replacement. Through back channels, they got the idea that Cochran might be interested.

The two coaches didn’t know each other personally, but Cochran’s reputation preceded him.

“Obviously knew how well he can motivate players,” Gilliland said. “And the energy he brings. All you’ve got to do is watch anything that he’s been a part of.”

Cochran arrived at Alabama in 2007, as part of Saban’s first staff. He won five national championships in Tuscaloosa, before leaving in 2020 for a special teams coordinator job at Georgia under Kirby Smart.

He battled addiction problems throughout his career, and resigned from Georgia after a relapse. Since then, he’s been running a non-profit to promote addiction recovery, something he’ll continue while at UWA.

“It was a group effort,” West Alabama president Todd Fritch said. “It’s just a tremendous opportunity that we became aware of. Reached out to coach and said ‘Hey, we’ve got an opportunity here.’”

Cochran has never coached at the Division II level before. It’s a different game than the one he left in the SEC.

But for the longtime assistant, it was a chance to return to what he loved about coaching in the first place.

“I think going through what I went through, I realized that I kind of got back to the pure of, I didn’t get into coaching for financials” Cochran said. “I didn’t get into it for the money. I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t make any money at the beginning. So taking a year to reassess my life made me realize it’s not about that. That what I need to focus on is the people around me.”

After arriving in Livingston, Cochran met with the Tigers, who finished the 2024 season 9-2. He then spoke with every player individually in his office.

On Tuesday, UWA will begin his famed fourth quarter program. After the team meeting, linebacker Travon Nunn went to YouTube to find videos of his new coach in action.

“I saw ‘YEAHHHHH,’” Nunn said. “He’s very much energy. But we love it though. That’s what we need. We love the energy.”