Alabama Strength Coach makes 600k

TheMoody1 · Unread post by **TheMoody1** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:15 pm

ARLINGTON, Texas – It's not Scott Cochran's fault. Keep that in mind.

This is a don't-hate-the-player, hate-the-game situation, where the Alabama strength and conditioning coach turned down an offer to go to Georgia in exchange for a raise that ESPN reported will put his salary at more than $600,000 in 2016.

That's right, the Crimson Tide is going to pay 600 grand to a guy who once put Icy Hot on his armpits – "and other areas" – for an entire August practice to motivate the players.

"Underarms was the worst, no matter what anybody says," Cochran informed us during Media Day Tuesday.

Strength coaches are, as a rule, completely crazy. Cochran ranks among the craziest. And now he also ranks as the richest.

Head coaches swear by their strength guys, who serve as vital conduits to players during times when the rest of the staff has limited contact with the athletes. They not only build bodies, but serve as motivators, player confidants and pulse keepers on team attitude.
But paying a strength coach $600,000 annually illustrates the willingness of big-time football programs to bathe in money while maintaining that it simply would not be feasible to pay the players. The more money college football makes, the more it spends on absurd facilities and insane salaries.

The athletes? They get full cost of attendance and all-you-can-eat bagels. I've historically believed that being a student-athlete is a darn good gig – but we are at the point where the gap between the players' share of the revenue geyser and what the adults get from it has become obscene.

USA Today had a story Tuesday about athletic departments spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on office graphics. The Washington Post had a story Tuesday about the skyrocketing salaries for athletic directors and their expanding staffs. The top offensive and defensive coordinators are being paid seven figures.

And the top strength coaches no longer are far behind.

The 36-year-old Cochran is friendly, outgoing and bears a resemblance to a younger Ron Howard. He is incapable of sitting still, legs bouncing furiously as he talks. That fits, because during games he is the energy guy on the Alabama sidelines.

All game. Every game. He is in constant motion, jumping up and down almost every play. He spends the entirety of every fourth quarter with four fingers raised on each hand as he bounces among Crimson Tide coaches and players.

Natural question: How do you feel after games?

"Exhausted," he said with a laugh.

Cochran said he has broken three Fitbits that measure how many steps a person takes in a day. On game days, he said he does about 40,000 steps. On Mondays, he started at 20,000 but before long was up to 35,000. Tuesdays started at 10,000 and escalated to 15,000.
That's a crazy pace for anyone. Trying to maintain it into his 50s and 60s seems impossible – but Cochran said he is willing to try.

"No question, no doubt," he said. "Can you envision me doing something else? I've actually prayed about this a lot – I'm hoping that I can still get on [the players'] level. That to me is the best part about this job – it keeps you young."

He is manic in the extreme, loud most of the time and much beloved by Alabama fans. When Cochran's signature "YEAH YEAH YEAH!" erupts on the Bryant-Denny Stadium loudspeakers, so does everyone in the house. If there is such a thing as a celebrity strength coach, he's it.

And now he's paid like one. There are FBS head coaches making less than Cochran, as the gap between Haves and Have Nots continues to expand.

So, too, does the gap between what the coaches and administrators get for compensation and what the players receive. It's not Scott Cochran's fault – he's just the latest beneficiary of College Sports Inc. running amok.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/meet-alaba ... 29617.html

Yosef10 · Unread post by **Yosef10** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:03 pm

I've heard many former coaches on ESPN say the strength coach is the second most important guy on the staff. Never thought I'd hear of a strength coach getting 600k but if the market allows I suppose.

AppDawg · Unread post by **AppDawg** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:11 pm

My Dad (UGA season ticket holder) tells me that the word on the street in Athens is Cochran will follow Kirby to UGA in 1 year. The reason being, he is 1 year away from tenure/fully vesting as a state of Alabama employee.

Saint3333 · Unread post by **Saint3333** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:21 am

This is getting ridiculous. Colleges better hope those TV revenues keep rolling in (you know that dying industry that is cable packages).

The model is broken.

HeffnerIV · Unread post by **HeffnerIV** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:37 am

Moving the semis to NYE didn't help. The viewership was down about 40% from last year

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Unread post by **Yosef** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 8:13 am

I've long thought coaches and administrations make too much. I'm all for capitalism but it's difficult for me to understand the justification of paying coaches all this money while regular student tuition has skyrocketed. They need to be putting more of that money towards reducing the cost of tuition as opposed to increasing coaching salaries and paying players beyond their free ride, room, and board. I don't know what the answer is and typically oppose regulation that forces something, but maybe that's the way to go.

Appsolutely · Unread post by **Appsolutely** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:58 pm

Yosef10 wrote:I've heard many former coaches on ESPN say the strength coach is the second most important guy on the staff. Never thought I'd hear of a strength coach getting 600k but if the market allows

I think we found out how important a S&C coach can be...huge difference this year.

AppinVA · Unread post by **AppinVA** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 1:35 pm

Appsolutely wrote:
Yosef10 wrote:I've heard many former coaches on ESPN say the strength coach is the second most important guy on the staff. Never thought I'd hear of a strength coach getting 600k but if the market allows
I think we found out how important a S&C coach can be...huge difference this year.

They're like kickers. Under appreciated until you have a bad one.