Georgia Football will replace another coach this offseason. The announcement was made on Wednesday. Scott Cochran will leave his role as Georgia’s special teams coordinator to pursue other possibilities. Kirk Benedict, who has served as a special teams analyst for the past two seasons, will now be the coordinator. Smart hired Cochran in 2020 to be the special teams coordinator. Cochran was a well-known strength and conditioning coach in collegiate football during his time at Alabama. But Cochran wanted to be more active on the field, and Smart provided him an opportunity that Saban did not. Later that summer, in August, it was revealed that Cochran would step aside from the football program. This resulted in Will Muchcamp transitioning from analyst to co-defensive and special teams coordinator. Cochran returned the Dawgs in October 2021 and helped Athens win back-to-back national championships. Cochran has been candid about his addiction struggles, even posting about his sobriety on social media.
I sat on this article for a few days because it seemed strange that a coach, particularly one of Cochran’s caliber, would depart in the middle of February. I expected to learn more about why he was leaving and what prompted him to do so. However, as of Friday afternoon, there was little information on the subject. Fair or unfair, this has prompted me to speculate about why Cochran abruptly quit the Georgia program. When I first learned about Cochran’s departure, I assumed it was due to health reasons. That conclusion is not far-fetched.
