The Sky Is Falling! Experts Claim Cochran’s Exit Signals the Beginning of the End

Many football talking heads (and some Alabama fans) insist that the departure of Scott Cochran signals the beginning of the end of the Nick Saban era at Alabama. It is their contention that Cochran knows that Coach Saban will be hanging it up soon for the easy life of retirement on Lake Burton.

The reasons?

Alabama has been caught by Georgia. Ed Orgeron has LSU ready to take complete control of the SEC West. Nick Saban can’t keep a staff together.

Nice talking points, but here’s the truth:

Alabama has beaten Georgia five consecutive times.

LSU won the National Championship because of a pair of Joes – Burrow and Brady. Neither will be in Baton Rouge this fall.

Most of Nick Saban’s former staffers left because they’ve been offered elevated positions and more money at other schools. Many times with Nick Saban’s assistance and blessing.

The so-called “disintegration” of the Saban staff is laughable.

That doesn’t mean that coaching turnover isn’t a challenge. It is. But the reason for the turnover is very important. And that reason is the overwhelming success of the Alabama Football Program under Nick Saban. He is a victim of his own success in that respect.

The most outlandish talker of them all (you know the one) surmises that Cochran’s leaving is yet another signal that Saban is getting ready to hang it up. He spouts that the only reason Saban returned after winning his sixth National Championship was because he had the country’s best quarterback. It was an opportunity he simply couldn’t resist.

That line of thinking is so ridiculous that it doesn’t really merit a response. The words came out of the mouth of college football’s Jerry Springer, after all.

It doesn’t merit a response, but here’s one anyway.

How is it that so many people continue to misunderstand Nick Saban? Do we not know who he is by now? It’s baffling.

Nick Saban is THE PROCESS.

The man consumes competition like the rest of us consume food, water, and oxygen.

And by competition, I mean the “process” of competing. Doing your best at everything you do from the time your feet hit the floor in the morning until your head hits the pillow at night.

This is not meant to be a glorification or a deification of Nick Saban. The man has his faults.

When it comes to The Process, however, Nick Saban knows no other way.

As he might say, “It is what it is….aight!”.

Nick Saban isn’t continuing to coach because of who is on the roster. He isn’t continuing to coach to get his seventh, and record-breaking, national championship.

Nick Saban continues to coach because it is who he is. It certainly helps that he has complete support from Miss Terry, whose role cannot be understated.

They will ride off into the sunset when they are ready to do so.

Their decision will not be based on the depth chart or the level of competition.

The day will come when they decide this season of the lives is over. That day is not yet here.

With regards to Scott Cochran, he was a very big part of Alabama stacking up hardware. That fact can’t be argued.

The last few seasons have not been quite the same, however. The strength and conditioning program has slipped a notch. Cochran has been eying an “on-field” position for several years. This decision didn’t come out of nowhere.

Cochran will be missed. He’s still very good at what he does, although what he does is about to change. He also maintains great relationships with current and former players and is a big asset in recruiting.

How much will he be missed? Hard to say. Maybe we should at least wait to see who replaces him. He will be replaced. And when he is, that person will implement Nick Saban’s Fourth Quarter Program, not Scott Cochran’s.