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UWA football's Scott Cochran taking new job, addiction recovery one day at a time

LIVINGSTON, Ala. − The night before the West Alabama football team began its offseason workout program, Scott Cochran couldn't sleep. The new coach had just taken the job in February, and worry had gotten the best of him. For Cochran himself, worry isn't a strong enough word. "Terrified," said the former Alabama strength and conditioning coach. Advertisement It had been almost exactly a year since he'd been a coach, having left Kirby Smart's staff at Georgia following a relapse of the opioid abuse that seized control of his life more than a decade earlier. And for the first time in a year, as soon as his UWA players convened for their first workout, Cochran knew he'd be yelling, because that's what coaches do. He had no illusions about coaching the Tigers with a soft voice; it wasn't going to happen. But it was Cochran's booming yell that caused the migraines which landed him his first prescription for pain killers in 2012. His yell was the root of the addiction that had wrecked the life he'd spent the last year trying to rebuild. And he was genuinely frightened that yelling at UWA's first workout would trigger a migraine. But no headache followed. TIDE CONNECTION: Scott Cochran adds two more Alabama football champions to West Alabama coaching staff Advertisement COCHRAN'S PLAN: 'They'll learn to love it': What Scott Cochran brings to West Alabama football "I thought 'Maybe it was because it was an easier day, but the next day, Tuesday, is really hard from a coaching standpoint – you're 60 minutes full go the whole time demanding their best – so I went two nights without much sleep," Cochran said. "And I still didn't get a headache." His yell was his signature at Alabama, driving players to strain for one last rep in the weight room and driving his remarkable popularity at the same time. With legendary coach Nick Saban's coaching staff turning over annually, Cochran was the constant who built a brand on his trademark yell: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, YEAH!" Crimson Tide fans knew his face and his name because they first knew his yell. An unmistakable, gravelly voice that boomed even when he wasn't trying. The migraines that came from it, however, were overwhelming, and Cochran eventually became addicted to Fentanyl. Now, he tells his story to anyone − his next speaking engagement is in Birmingham next month − who needs to hear it. Advertisement "Fentanyl kills 200 Americans a day," he said. "That's like a 737 plane crashing every day. And they're not doing it on purpose. These are accidental overdoses. It's poison." Today marks 100 days since Cochran took over the Tigers program, and he's imploring his players to take it one day at a time, just as he is. He'd once accidentally called Alabama safety Landon Collins by the wrong name in Collins' first week as a Crimson Tide freshman, and never shook the embarrassment from it. He set a goal of learning every player's name within those first 100 days, and achieved it around Day 70. The program he wants at UWA, just like his recovery, is an every-day build. Behind one end zone at Tiger Stadium, construction is underway on a new locker room and team meeting room. Relaxing in the UWA athletic complex with Tiger, a goldendoodle he's dubbed as the program's new live mascot, Cochran views the daily progress on the facility as a metaphor for both himself and his program. "Success for us isn't going to be about winning a national championship," he said. "That's a goal, of course, but success comes by the day." Advertisement Cochran, 46, remains the president of the American Addiction Recovery Association, an advocacy group he helped launch last year in the wake of his departure from Georgia. Among its undertakings is the Purple Project, which is intended to encourage addicts to be open about their problems and fearless about asking for help under the slogan "Eliminate the Whisper." At odds against recovery, he says, is the social pressure people feel to overcome their addictions alone, which is rarely effective, and Cochran wants the Purple Project to encourage addicts to view asking for help as a strength rather than a weakness. It will culminate in September, National Recovery Month, with what Cochran hopes will be a widespread use of purple helmet decals, mouthpieces, and other football items available through the AARA web site. As of today, Cochran says his yelling has miraculously stopped causing migraines. He uses a bullhorn now, and can even wire his voice through the jumbotron audio on the football field, even though he sometimes catches himself yelling into both amplifiers. And if the headaches ever return? "Advil's just going to have to work," he said. "And I haven't even used Advil yet." Advertisement Donations to The Purple Project or the American Addiction Recovery Association can be made at Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread. Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@ Follow on @chasegoodbread. This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: West Alabama football coach Scott Cochran juggles new job, opioid recovery