Confirmed: Kirby hired good friend Scott Cochran for a job that Saban and others wouldn’t

Matt Zenitz and John Talty did some reporting on the behind the scenes stuff that led to Scott Cochran’s departure. As we have surmised, Saban wanted Scott to stay on in his role as one of the highest paid strength and conditioning coaches in the country. Cochran had other plans for his career, which is fine. It doesn’t appear that he was willing to take the requisite step back that would be required, however.

Key excerpt:

After the Ole Miss discussions became public, Saban called Cochran in for a meeting and asked whether he really wanted to make the switch to an on-field job. When Cochran said he did, Saban told him he wouldn’t be comfortable hiring him as an on-field assistant at that point in time, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The advice from Saban was that if Cochran wanted to become a special teams coach, he should start attending Alabama’s special teams meetings and invest time into learning the intricacies of the position. Cochran left the conversation upset and convinced he wouldn’t be getting an on-field opportunity at Alabama given he believed he had already spent a lot of time around special teams.

Imagine that: Saban wanted him to put in the work to learn and become qualified for the job.

Not to be deterred, when Kirby Smart’s special teams coach left town, Cochran managed to sell his best friend on his qualifications despite the fact that Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin, and Mel Tucker had passed on him. The odds that Smart hired Cochran for his special teams chops are slim and none, so it came down to some combination of wanting to hire his friend and wanting to say that he stole a coach from Saban.

That’s sad, folks.