National Championships, Collapse, and Comeback: The Scott Cochran Story with Sarah Pritchard

Welcome to Impacting Recovery Uncensored. I’m your host Sarah Pritchard. This is a podcast where we dive deep into the real uncensored truths about addiction, recovery, and everything in between. No sugarcoating, no judgment, just honest conversations that can help lift up the solution. So let’s get started. Today is a very special and unique day. We are here in Athens, Georgia with Mr. and coach Scott Cochran. How are you? Yeah, great to be here. Yes. I’m fired up about this. I know, I’m so excited. Yeah, we were talking before because Scott, you are now the head coach of West Alabama. Yes. And we live in Birmingham. That’s right. But we’re here in Athens, which it actually ended up working out because I got to be, you know, with family yesterday in Atlanta. Yes, I’m a little bit of a nomad right now. Yeah. I spend like 90% of my time in Livingston, 8% in Tuscaloosa, and 2% in Athens. Yeah. So the 2%, we managed to make it happen. We made it happen. Let’s go. Well, so okay, so we met you, well Adams of course has known about you for a very long time, been a big fan with your history with Alabama, being the strength and conditioning coach over there and really just helping build that culture, which we’ll get into all that. But I guess I met you, Chad and I, we all met you like what, a year, year and a half ago maybe? Yeah, probably about a year and a half. And you’ve been out to impact and spoke to the guys. Oh my gosh, yes. So it was really fun. Incredible. Yeah. What an awesome place. Yeah, thank you. Huge fan. Yes. Well, we’re all huge fans. So today what I wanted to get into is kind of what we talked about just like, you know, about your, your backstory. Obviously you have a very impressive career. However, at the same time, your addiction was progressing. And you’ve been very open and vulnerable about your addiction, which is hard to come by a lot of times because there is so much shame and guilt around it all. So I wanted to kind of dive into that. And then we’ll get into, you know, what you’re doing now and all that good stuff. So I guess, you know, when, like, you are known a very intense, motivating voice in the sports world. So when all of this, and we’ll probably backtrack a little too, but like, once your addiction was really progressed, like how this like motivating voice that you have for these players, how did that play into like talking to yourself? Or were you trying to get out of get out of I mean, once I realized I had a problem, once I knew, okay, I can’t stop, you know, once I realized there’s no way of getting out of this, my solution was, if I leave Alabama, you know, you change your geographic location, you change your job, you change your circumstance, you can leave the addiction behind. Right. But I wasn’t able to, obviously. Yeah. So my answer was, once I realized I couldn’t do it, I was like, you know what, maybe Tuscaloosa is the problem. Yeah, maybe I did. Maybe it’s maybe there’s, there’s probably no drugs in Athens, right? Right. Yeah. Definitely not. And so I tried, you know, I think everybody tries. Yes. On their own multiple times to quit, you know, yeah. And it just never worked out because you say, okay, how many days will withdrawals last if I just, you know, if I stopped? What if I just take a little bit and wean myself off? Yeah. And that’s not possible. Right. So I tried to outrun a disease. Yeah, that was my first answer was, okay, I’ll leave the weight room. And I’ll do special teams. And I’ll do it in Athens. I’ll leave Tuscaloosa behind. And obviously, my disease got worse. Yeah, the progression just. And so, yes. And, and so I guess to backtrack a little, because I know a little bit more about your story, but for the listeners, so how did the addiction start? Or where, where? Because you were pills and opiates mainly, correct? Yes. Okay. Opiates was my, I guess fentanyl was my drug of choice at the end. Yeah. So how did it go from you’re a very athletic, successful coach to I need fentanyl? Yeah. God, the way you put it, man. So I was getting these migraines. So I started coaching. And I fell in love when I was 19 years old. I walked into a high school university high on LSU campus is the laboratory school. And I started volunteer coaching and I fell in love. I was like, okay, this is what I’m gonna do for a living. And then coach Saban gets hired at LSU. He hires my high school strength coach. So I’m like, hey, I will come cut your grass. I will come scrub your toilets, like whatever I need to do to get into the college door. Right? Yeah. And so started working at LSU coached multiple sports there, which took me to from LSU football to the New Orleans Hornets basketball. Yeah. So I coached in the NBA for a few years. And so I started getting these headaches, you know, wasn’t a big deal, but I noticed them when I yelled, right. So I’ll just take Advil no big deal. I get the job at Alabama 2007 coach Saban calls. And always like to tell the story because it cracks me up. So we’re playing the Hawks. We were literally in Atlanta, which is right down the street. And so coach Saban calls and he says, I don’t know if you know, but I took the Alabama job. And I’m like, come on, coach. Like, if you remember in 2007, like ESPN had him everywhere. So I was like, Yeah, coach. I know. And he’s like, Why don’t you come be my strength coach? And I said, Oh, man, I’d be great. Let me. We got a game tonight. I’ll have a day off tomorrow because it was a back to back game. I was like, I’ll come to school tomorrow. I said, Oh, I got a problem. No coach. He’s like, what? And I’m like, all I have is a velour sweatsuit. It was a one night trip. And strength coaches all they wore were the sweats that the team gave you and the Hornets. We had velours. Yeah. So I had my velour sweatsuit. And he said, Look, I’m not hiring you to be my banker. I want you to be my strength coach. He’s like, I don’t care what you’re wearing. So I was like, Okay, the last time I worked for the man, I was 23. Now I’m 27. So I’m thinking, man, I got to show out. Yeah, I went to Walmart. And I bought navy blue jacket, white button down red power tie, brown belt, brown shoes, khakis, the whole get up. Yeah. 96 bucks. Best investment in my life. See, I love that. Because you’re talking about like that, just that and the story about you’re like, I’ll cut grass to do anything like you’re going the extra mile to get what you want and like go for reach for your goals. And so that’s really cool. I like that. And so I get there. And you know, I got to run the show 27 years old, and I got to run the weight room. And, of course, I loved every second of it a lot of stress, a lot of a lot of great things. But about 2009 2010 reached out to a doc and I was like, Look, these headaches, they’re just unbearable. There’s got to be some kind of relief. And the docs I want you to stop yelling. I’m like, All right, Doc, why don’t you stop breathing? Yeah. Okay. You know what I mean? Like that’s equivalent to me yelling. Yeah, not gonna happen. Not gonna happen. And so they tried everything. You know, they did the CAT scan, they did all the testing. I even went to a speech therapist and yelled for them. And they basically what it came down to was, the blood thinners didn’t work. The beta blockers didn’t work. None of those things worked. And then he gave me Vicodin. And I was like, Man, this works. But I feel like I hung over in the morning. Yeah, the mornings were just like the headache would just pound. So I was like, Is there something extended release in this pain area? And he’s like, Yeah, there’s this new thing called oxycodone. Here we go. Yeah. But he said and now this is this is the part, you know, where if I could go back and kind of slap me in the face and say, the doc literally said this is addictive. But I mean, this is 2010. Yeah, he says this is a dick. 2010. We have one we just finished winning one national championship. That’s my second national championship as a strength coach. And I’m like, I’m on the jumbotron. I’m the Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, guy. I’m all over the place. And you’re gonna tell me I’m gonna be addicted to something. Right? Let’s get out of here. Yeah. You know, like I was like, that’s for the people under the bridge. Yeah. You know, I thought the same thing. Right? Yeah. So that’s where it really started. And that doc putting me on the oxy. Right? I was like, this works. Oh my god, I can coach all day. And I can yell all day. And I can really coast my tail off. And I won’t be in pain. But eventually that doc said, I’m not right after about three months. Yeah, he says I’m not writing you anymore, because you’re taking too many. Right? And so well, and good for that doctor, right? Because a lot of times it’s not that’s not no, it’s not not at all, which is not good for you in that time when you’re active addiction. Right? And that’s when it like kicked off. Yeah. Right. That’s when it was like, okay, instead of going to the cold tub and dipping my head into the cold tub, it was I’m going to take this pill. Right? I know it’s extended release and supposed to be all day, but I got five groups every day, right? So every group on taking a pill. And then eventually, it got to snorting five pills before every group. And that’s disgusting. Yeah. Like to even talk about that, right? It’s like, so much shame. Yeah. In that like, you’re the strength coach, you’re leading young men, you’re trying to be the best for them. And you have this secret that nobody knows about. And you can’t stop. Right. And see, and, and that, as a drug addict, makes so much sense to me. Like it makes so much sense, you know, whereas when I’m sure you were going through it, even when I was going through my alcoholism, it is it’s like this shame and I can’t stop and I don’t know what to do. And I can’t ask for help. And I got to put on this image to the world, my world, your world. And, but like, drug addiction and alcoholism is so black and white. It’s like, no, that makes sense. Like that actually tracks for how the progression of drug addiction goes. And so when you were at that point of like, you know, starting the multiple pills in the morning or whatever, obviously, at that point, you were getting an effect produced. Like it wasn’t about the headaches anymore. Like you also liked how it made you feel. Yes. It gave me energy. Yeah. Right. And at 5am, you got a 6am group, you know, we are as coaches. It’s always been, you set the tempo for the players. If you want the players to be a certain way, you have to be at first. Right. So before that 6am group, I’m getting all jacked up. Yeah. Right. So that I have a buzz, but I also want to be great for them. Yeah. Um, man, so crazy. Isn’t it weird? It’s like, not, it’s crazy. I’ve heard this multiple times. So it’s like, we get to live two lives in one, which is really cool. But it’s weird to think about, like, I look back on my dark times and I’m like, that is not me. Right. And so, and what’s just so cool about recovery, because now I don’t have to hide. Yeah. I don’t have to hide. I don’t have to be something I’m not. I don’t have to put on this front. I can just be me. And there’s, there’s so much freedom in it. It’s the coolest thing in the world. Like if there’s any disease, like if, you know, if you’re with God and you’re like, okay, you can get this cancer, you can get this disease and get this disease. I choose this one every day. Yeah. Because recovery is so cool. Yes. Like it is the freedom. Yeah. It’s peaceful. I know. And it’s so I was, I would hear people talk like you and I would be like, that sounds awful. Why would they be grateful to be, you know, like these people are crazy. Now I am that person. Yes. I’m that annoying person. I was like, I’m grateful to be an alcoholic. Oh my goodness. Okay. So when, so when, when let’s fast forward to really, when it started to crumble, you, you said you were trying to leave Tuscaloosa cause you thought it was the environment there. So 2015, 2016, uh, my boys left Kirby, took the job at Georgia lane, took the job at FAU. So my two like besties, so to speak, are gone. Yeah. And that’s when my addiction took over. That’s when it came from just a few pills or, you know, 10, 20 pills a day to higher numbers and through my nose. Um, so by 2019 I have completely given up on the fact that I can get clean. Um, so I’m like, okay, I know how to fix this. You know, I had this goal of being a head coach, uh, and it was all ego driven, all, all, uh, you know, the, like trying to be powerful, right. The power driven ego, all the bad stuff. Oh, I wanted to be a head coach. And so I was like, you know what, if I do special teams, that’ll put me in line and I can leave the drugs behind. Right. So, uh, I call Kirby. He hires me as a special teams coordinator at Georgia. And, uh, I think I can leave it. Right. And I’m preparing for that. Right. So I bring just a little bit of pills with me and I’m like, you know what, I can do it. I’ll just try to wean myself off. Oh, that lasted about 48 hours. Oh. And then I’m like, wait, I just got the job. I’m trying to be this head coach one day. I can’t be sick. Right. I can’t like have the flu. Cause that’s what the withdrawals feel like. It’s hell. It’s complete hell. I mean, there’s no getting around it. You can’t, you can’t positive self talk your way through it. You just can’t hurt like no skull session fixes withdrawals. All right. Um, so, uh, of course I pick up and, uh, it’s full force, you know, it’s, I’m looking for docs, I’m going to the street, um, all the stuff, you know? Uh, so now my addiction is even worse and I thought I was leaving it all in Tuscaloosa. Yeah. And so you were there. So at this point, does your family know there’s a problem? No, my family doesn’t find out until, uh, April 10th, 2020. What happened then? I overdosed. So April 10th, 2020, uh, COVID’s going on. Uh, so I’m at the house, uh, doing a zoom. We had a staff meeting. Um, and then we had a, had a meeting with, I think it was the Falcons, uh, talking about special teams, um, because there’s not much going on. So you’re like trying to learn things for the season. If we’re going to have a season, didn’t even know we’re going to have one. Right. Yeah. Um, and my wife found me, uh, dead on the ground. Um, call the EMTs, went through the whole process. Uh, and, uh, man talk about, there’s this book called smacked. Um, that’s how my wife felt. Yeah. Like what? Yeah. Drugs. Like, like in her mind, I knew you had medicine for migraines. Right. Right. I knew you had something, but I had no idea that it was this. Um, and the craziest part about it was I got my refill on the 16th. I had one doc that would give me on the first or the fifth, like first through the fifth, depending on that 30 day window. And I had another doc that was on the 16th. And so I was out and I called, I called up a buddy and my buddy said, I don’t trust the guy I’m getting this from. And I was like, I don’t care. I can’t be sick. Right. Right. I can’t be sick. So get it anyway. I’ll pay double. I don’t care. Yeah. Um, and sure enough, it was fentanyl and almost killed me. Thank God it didn’t. Yeah. Thank God my wife found me when she did. Yeah. Um, and thank God the everybody took care of me. Well, and like, I truly believe we’re sitting here breathing because we’re supposed to be sharing and helping. And because we, because there’s so many people that don’t get the opportunity and it is a gift. And even if someone’s like in their lowest place right now, like maybe they just woke up in the hospital after overdose or a family member is experiencing that with a loved one who’s an active addiction, like that can be the best moment to be like, you are still alive. You have this life. Like this is just like we were talking about. I’m grateful because we get to share it and be helpful. And it’s not a, and we, I get to live this whole new life in a different perspective that I didn’t even know existed. And, um, and so, so if you’re in that spot, call impact right now. Yeah. They’re saving lives. Well, and, and so, yeah, I mean, and just like, and it is, and I always say it takes a village to help an addict or an alcoholic. So it’s like you have your family wrapped around you and friends and work people like it does. It’s, it is hard to get an addict or an alcoholic to even be open to this life of sobriety or recovery because the drugs now called you so much for us. It gave you all the energy. Like you can’t be sick, all these things you need to be able to do life and thrive. And opiates did that for you. It was the solution for so long. Yeah. Until it wasn’t right. And so after that is when like the treatment stuff started, then I started doing treatment. Yeah. I, uh, my first day in treatment, I went to Massachusetts to Chris Harren’s place and, uh, did a 30 day thought, you know, first time treatment. I’m true. I’m good. I’m got this, you know, I don’t have to ever worry about drugs again. Right. Not so fast. Yeah. Yeah. They call it a way of life for a reason, which I didn’t know either. I was like, yep. Check the box. I’m good. See you never people. Thanks for the information. Um, but yeah, so the cycle of. Getting sober, getting clean, getting sober time. Um, and then relapsing and then going back to recovery, going back into a facility, inpatient, then an outpatient. Um, and then, you know, finally, uh, realizing like, no matter what, there’s nothing a pill can fix. Right. When you get to the point of like, like, that’s not going to fix anything. And then you get to work on, okay, what is this feeling? What is this insecurity? What is this that I’m going through in this moment? And why, why am I going through it? Right. And recovery kind of opens up the door to like, pick up the phone, call a friend, ask for help. That’s right. Right. Who knew? Right. And asking for help. What a foreign, like, no way. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and I, in the world, you know, me ask for help. I’m the one everybody’s asking for help for. Right. Can you help me get a job? Can you help me get to the NFL? Can you help me win a national championship? Like I’m the one you ask for help. I’m not, I don’t need anything. Yeah. But once I realized like, why take that blessing away from somebody? Like what a blessing it is to be able to help somebody. Yeah. And why take that from a friend? If you really need them, they’re going to love to help. Right. Yeah. Cause you’d do it for them. Right. In a heartbeat. Yes. So don’t take the blessing from them. Yeah. Just don’t take it from them. Let them get that blessing of actually helping you. Yeah. You know? So what was, what was the hardest part of like stepping away from coaching when like focusing on recovery and like, what did that look like? And was, or was it hard? It was, you know, you hear it all the time. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Right. I had had enough of the pretending. I had had enough of trying to be something instead of just being me. Yeah. Um, because I tried to coach sober, but I never really tried in recovery until I got this job now. Yeah. And being in recovery, it’s so much fun to coach again. It’s so cool to help somebody like, man, what a, what a unbelievable blessing to be coaching right now. Yeah. Because when in 2023, I was, I’m coaching at Georgia and you know, I relapsed and I’m like, man, I’m back in the same circle of the same shame circle, right? Guilt is I did something bad, but I’m in shame. Shame is I’m a bad person because I picked back up and you just keep playing it over and over again. I’m a bad person. I’m a bad person. I’m not who I say that I am. Right. Um, and it just wears you out. Yeah. Um, and so my wife told me we’re about to play Florida state in the bowl game. And she said, Hey, this can be the last game you coach at Georgia. We will be fine. And I was like, that’s amazing. She did that because she said, I know something’s wrong. I can’t tell if you’re inactive addiction right now, or if you’re about to be, you are struggling and it’s obvious. And I’m like, in the middle of it, I’m like, whatever, you know, because I’m, I’m back in addiction, you know? So I’m like, whatever. Um, but then a month later I was like, you know what? I’m sick of this. Yeah. Maybe, maybe stepping out. Maybe I can do something better with my time than coach. Yeah. Um, and I started a nonprofit, which was cool. Yes. Eliminate the whisper. Eliminate the whisper. Yeah. Tell us about that. Um, it’s an American addiction recovery association. And, uh, all right. The one thing I got to talk about it. Okay. Cause this is the coolest thing is the coolest thing ever. So September is recovery month. Purple is our color. So just like Susan G Coleman did for breast cancer in October for pink, I want to do purple in September. So I’m trying to get the word out. I’ve got stuff for sale. I’ve got Nike on board. I’ve got Adidas on board. I’m trying to get purple to be the cool thing to wear in the month of September. So hopefully high school teams, hopefully college teams. I got some NFL. I’ve got a few players. I know just a few small name guys that are willing to wear purple. So, uh, that’s been one of, that’s been the driving force. Uh, this off season has been to get purple on high school, college, and even volleyball players. Like my daughter’s a volleyball player. Her in season is the same as football. So I’m like, dude, we got purple socks. Let’s go. Yeah. Purple ribbons. Let’s go. I’ll be wearing purple. And that’s, and so that it’s, it’s all about kind of the shame that you were talking about, like eliminating the whisper. Like we, we need to talk about this stuff and it’s not, it is, it is very hard. Like I’m not gonna negate that for the person going through it and the family members, because it’s like, how can my loved one do all this crazy stuff? Like they are being insane. They are doing hurtful things. They’re doing their line. They’re, they’re doing things that are way out of line. And so like, nobody’s going to be like, Oh yeah, my son crashed his car and went, ran off with the drug dealer today. Like it’s hard to talk about, but I think in the right community and in the right circles in the right, um, you know, friends or people that have been through the same thing, like it, you can, like, I was surprised how quickly I could open up when I’m with another alcoholic or family members, or because it’s like, we’re all going through the same thing. It may not look exactly the same, but we all feel the same and we can all be there for each other. And I think that’s, I’m glad you talked about that because that’s what is so cool about y’all’s place at impact. Y’all’s recovery place. Um, it talks to the families too, because the families are sick too. And I’m glad you’re bringing that up because it was really, you know, since I started the nonprofit, I’ve gone and seen hundreds of recovery places. Um, but nobody does it like y’all do it at impact. It’s really unbelievable because y’all really dig into the individual and let them realize it’s okay, but we’re not going to have that behavior anymore. And then you get, and then y’all have meetings with family members. Come on. Like my wife was starving for that and she wasn’t able to find it. She had to go to Al-Anon meetings. Right. And she still does, which is great. I love that she does that because I still go to my meetings. Um, but what y’all do at impact is insane because y’all bring the families in, um, and y’all talk to the parents, y’all talk to the spouses. And that is such a big step in recovery. Um, because there’s a lot of love there, right? Yeah. But there’s so much hatred for the person that’s trying to carry the weight now and they don’t know how to carry it. Yeah. They don’t know. Am I supposed to lock up? Am I supposed to get rid of all the alcohol in the house? Right. Is he never allowed to go to a party again? Yeah. Right. Is he never allowed to go on a business trip by himself? Right. Like no one’s ever been to a football game sober in this family. Right. So like, but he’s got a, he’s got a problem or she’s got a problem, right. He’s got an issue. Let’s help. And the family members never know what to do. Yes. And that’s what I love, which I’ll do at impact because y’all really dive into the family side and y’all try to help them so that they understand who’s coming back into the house because they’re going to be different. They’re just going to be a better version. Right. But they’re going to be scared. They’re going to be there. It’s going to be a lot of first times. And so the more they’re educated and they have someone to talk to when a family member has somebody to talk to, they don’t go crazy because you feel like you’re crazy. Yeah. Because nobody’s bringing a casserole to my wife. Right. I went off to rehab. Yeah. No, no offense to her friends. That’s such a good point. Nobody brought her a casserole. Right. Nobody said, I’m sorry that you’re going through this. Can I cook your family a meal? Right. But if I had cancer and I had to go off to MD Anderson or somewhere, just like I had to go off into treatment, people would be bringing, Hey, let me cover dinner this week. Here’s a gift card to this place. Right. Nobody’s doing that for addiction. Yeah. Nobody’s saying what people are really doing are like, Ooh, I can’t. Ooh, they’re dealing with that. Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t want to be around y’all. Right. And so you get pushed out. Right. The family member gets kind of isolated. Yeah. And that’s where y’all y’all’s team does a heck of a job by going and coaching them and letting them know, Hey, it’s okay. Right. It’s okay that these people are there. They may not understand what you’re going through, but we do. And we’ve been through it a million times. Yes. So I love that y’all take care of the families. It’s the coolest thing ever. Thank you. I appreciate that a lot. And, and speaking of families, like with, as far as, you know, the coaches that you come across, or I’m sure friends as well, but like coaches that have players that are struggling or coaches that are struggling, or maybe a coach’s family member, like they get to reach out to you. So kind of saying how, you know, family can be on this, this isolated Island. You can be kind of a, like a listening ear and help them navigate. Cause it’s like you get on Google and it’s like, what do I do? It’s too much. It’s like information overload. Yes. And even if they’re not at a place of like my person, my person needs to go to treatment or needs help, like just being able to listen and be like, I understand that makes sense. It’s okay. Right. You’re not alone. Right. You are not alone. Yeah. That’s the biggest thing. And it’s cool because like, it would even be at like halftime, not halftime, but pregame, you know, during pregame players are warming up, coaches are kind of like coaching them up, but really just kind of like juicing them up every time, like giving a little, little pep here and there, but you can talk to coaches on the opposing sideline. And when I was at Georgia and I had that time sober, right. I would get every time someone would come up and say, Hey, I have a family member or Hey, because of you, I stopped or because of you, I did this. And I’m like, not because of me, brother, I’m just willing to scream, you know, cause I want to eliminate the whisper about, you know? Yeah. So it’s, it is cool to be able to help because coaches are just like everybody else, right? Their, their job is just as hard as a sales rep or it’s just, it’s the same thing. Everybody’s going through something. Right. And as long as you’re not turning to a pill or to a drink to fix it, you have a chance. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And so with, cause you touched on this, but like you talked about when you were sober verse and really probably dry, now you’re in recovery coaching. So how, how does that look today with this new role that you’re in and like actually living this way of life that we talk about recovery and everything, and then being able to get back into your passion and what you love. Yeah. When I got the phone call to be the head coach at West Alabama, I was kind of speechless, like dumbfounded. Like, are you sure? Like, you sure you want me? Like, do you know the stuff that I’ve been through? Right. And they’re like, do you know how many rings you have? And I’m like, yeah, I got you. But you know, I haven’t ran my own program before. And they’re like, we think you’d be perfect. And so it has been an awesome journey. You know, living the life of recovery, I just have to show up and be me and do the best I can. And I can actually, you know, the ones that took, whether it was the addiction or whether it was just my, you know, work ethic, my family were my hostages, you know, they really got neglected last time I was coaching. Yeah. And so now they’re a huge part of my team, right? Like we have camps. My wife and daughters are going to be the sign up. Like they’re going to be signing kids up to come to camp. They’re involved. And so living this life of recovery, the players know my story. I’ve told it to them. I relay what I go through on a regular basis. And like, this is where I ran into a roadblock. Like I hit a stump here because when I get isolated, when I get in my own little head, that’s when I get in trouble. Yeah. Well, and I would guess like we have this delusion of like with the pills, like I show up better, I live life better. And now you can be the best version of yourself as a coach. Like this amazing gift where you get to run the whole program. And it’s just really cool how, and I know it’s probably hard during that time because when you stepped away from coaching, I would assume your identity was wrapped up in I am a football coach. So I really can’t imagine like how hard that was to do that. But I also think it’s an incredible example for other people that it’s okay to step away from your career, whatever’s going on and put recovery first and you know, trust God, trust the process. It’s very difficult, but and see what happens. That’s right. And so that’s like, I mean, it’s just really cool. It’s like the story of the wolf, right? You know, it’s which one you’re feeding, right? There’s the bad wolf that does all the bad stuff. And it’s the good wolf that you want to be, right? It’s which one you’re feeding, right? Like if you’re putting your, if your life is surrounded by, you know, faith and a Christian base and the things that you really want, if you’re feeding your life that like, just let the miracle happen. Like watch God, because, because I’m sitting here, I’m living proof of it. I stepped away. I stepped away from the money. I stepped away from the power and I said, I need to work on me. Right. I started a nonprofit. I wrote a book. Yes. Which I’m sure we’ll get into. But I did all these things. And when coaching was ready, when I was ready to go back to coaching, the job came to me. I didn’t go seeking it. I didn’t go searching for it. God said, this is where I want you. And it was like, okay. Yeah. Yes, sir. I’ll be there. Right. And that’s like how, you know, it’s an alignment. It just like unfolds naturally. Let it happen. Yeah. Like let go. Let it just let it go. Yeah. And let God take it because he’s going to do some cool stuff. Yeah. So cool. Yes. Okay. So speaking of cool, tell us about the book. Okay. The book seems really cool. When I read what little, little I read about it. It seems awesome. You can get it on Amazon. You can, you can pre-order it. It comes out August 19th, but you can pre-order it. You can pre-order the audible. I read the audible. So the audibles is a lot of fun. Yeah. Called Skull Session. Skull Session. Yeah. Skull Session. So in that, in what basically in my mind, what we’re doing right now is a form of a skull session. Okay. Right. So it’s when you put your minds together. So in football, everything is physical, physical, physical. But we, with coach Saban, we kind of developed this mental development side, right. And I took it over to Georgia with me. And when I was deep in my addiction, in my recovery, they kind of were the same thing. The mental development, it took to win championships, the mental development, it, I needed to get into recovery. They all aligned. And so I used the book telling my story. And I also use examples from teams I’ve coached and how they won championships using the same model. That makes sense. So it’s really, it’s pretty cool. Cause I give examples that are fun and you get a kind of behind the scenes look at, at the industry of football, working under coach Saban, working under Kirby smart. But then you also get to see the addiction and it’s really for anyone that’s for improvement, right? If you’re stuck in addiction, if you’re just in that cycle of can’t get right, it’s a great book because it’ll help you take a step forward into recovery. If you’re an organization and you’re just trying to get, get better, it’s a great, it gives you great examples for that too. So it’s a life book with some fun stories, of course. Well, and I love that because like you said, football is so physical and it’s about the, you know, all of the practicing and playing and all that, but it’s like, there’s gotta be the mind and heart behind it too. And we’ve talked about this in the past, just about, we asked you about like the culture and how, how important that is and like the attitudes of the players and how that makes such a difference in the success of the team. And, you know, if there’s somebody that’s not pulling their weight, like how can you lift, lift them up or have another player go in and help lift them up? And like, you just have seen all of that and have seemed to have found a really successful way to navigate it all. And like build these, these, these young players and help them build character and help them be successful past the college life. That’s right. That’s right. Because that’s the goal, right? You know, I want my players now that come through West Alabama, I want them to get a career in the future, right? I want them to be a better person. I want them to find their faith, right? I also want them to be great husbands one day. I want them to be great fathers one day. Like, and that’s not a sales pitch. I’m a division two school. I’m not competing against the big dogs. I’m grateful for the people I get to compete against. But when you come through, I want you to develop from like boys to men and to see what a real man is. Cause all of a sudden a real man raises his hand and asks for help when he needs help. Yeah. Right. And the skull session book is teaching the culture because what you say to yourself, like that positive self-talk, I needed it in recovery. I needed it when I was at the deepest, darkest place. And then I was like, wait, these players need it too. Well, I don’t know, put them together and let people see the culture stuff we developed at Alabama at Georgia. Right. And then what I went through and how it kind of all comes together. That makes sense. No, that’s so cool. And it made me think of when we, one of the first conversations that I had with you, I don’t even know if you remember, but I think we were at dinner and you were talking about your, you were trying to figure out your career and you’re talking to your dad. And I think you were saying you’re going to be a physical therapist. And then your dad was like, but you wanted to coach and your dad was like, I’m saying this wrong and you can correct me. But how he was like, you’ve said you wanted to help people your whole life. Like basically go for it. Is that, is that the right story? Cause both of my brothers are physical therapists. And so I’m in college and I’m like, okay, I’m going to do what they do. They make great money. Um, and my dad was like, no, you said you were going to coach and help people since you were 10 years old and you haven’t even tried. And I’m like, dad, look how much money they’re making. Like I can take out a loan, go to PT school right now and I’ll be just like them. And he goes, don’t chase the money, help people. So I was like, okay. So I walked into the high school and fell in love. Yeah. I love that. And it just like, that just shows your character and who you are. And like a lot of people don’t operate that way. And so it’s pretty cool. Yeah. And a lot of people don’t find like, they don’t find their true passion because once you find what it is you love to do, like once you figure that out, it doesn’t look like work. Right. And on those days that you really don’t feel like doing it. Right. It just makes it a little bit easier to do. Yeah. Right. Because everybody hits the wall, right? You hit the wall and you’re like, man, I don’t feel like doing this today. I don’t feel like doing that today. And then if you find something that you’re passionate about and that you love, love to do, right. It makes it a little bit easier on that day. Yeah. Right. Or that week. Right. Sometimes it feels like it never goes away. Right. And then you feel like, man, wait, this is what I love to do. Yeah. I don’t need, you know, 10 cups of coffee this morning. I need to go help somebody. Right. I need to dig into my passion. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay. So if listeners could just take one thing away from your story, what do you hope that would be? Gosh, that recovery is real and it works. And just be patient with yourself. Have some, have some patience, get on your knees every once in a while and ask God for some help. So one thing, first of all, I say buy my book. It’s called Skull Session. Yes. Definitely. But I would think one thing is just give yourself a break. Yeah. Give yourself a break. You’ll be okay. Yeah. I love that. Give yourself a break and ask for help and it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be all right. I promise you. Yes. Well, is there anything else that you wanted to add or share on? No, I’m good. Okay. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. This was so fun. Yes. Easy. Being in this new setting. Yeah. It’s a cool spot. Yeah. So, okay. Awesome. Well, thank you. And thank you for tuning in to another episode. I hope today’s conversation has inspired you. Open your mind, maybe even your heart a little bit. But remember you’re not alone and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it or you think it would be helpful. We will have all the links below in the description for our social and I will have all the links to Scott as well in his book and Eliminate the Whisper. So check that out. But until next time, keep making an impact. Bye y’all.