Digital Social Hour - From Champion Coach to Addiction Advocate: A Powerful Journey | Coach Cochran DSH #1187

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

Step into an extraordinary story of resilience, redemption, and purpose on this special episode of the Digital Social Hour Podcast with Sean Kelly! 🎙️ Join us as we welcome legendary college coach turned addiction advocate, Coach Cochran, for a raw and inspiring conversation you won’t forget. From dominating the sidelines and winning 8 national championships to battling a hidden decade-long addiction, Coach Cochran opens up about his powerful journey of recovery and transformation. 💪✨   Discover how this champion coach went from coaching elite athletes to exploring Las Vegas tunnels with a charity group, helping the homeless, and launching the American Addiction Recovery Association. 🏈➡️💜 Whether you’re a sports fan, someone battling addiction, or just need a boost of inspiration, this episode is PACKED with valuable insights and hope.   👉 Don’t miss out on this eye-opening discussion about breaking stigma, overcoming addiction, and making a real impact. Tune in now, and be part of the change. Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀   CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:41 - Exploring the Tunnels in Vegas 04:29 - Finding Your Purpose 05:44 - College Football Salaries Surge 07:50 - Leadership Techniques 13:41 - Understanding Addiction 18:10 - The Dangers of Overdosing 20:45 - Identifying Addictive Substances 21:24 - Returning to Rehab 22:51 - Rise in Overdose Deaths 29:58 - AARA Overview 32:13 - NIL Impact on Sports 38:53 - Henry Ruggs Case Analysis 40:02 - Most Athletic Sports Compared 42:56 - Future Plans for Coach Cochran   APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail]   GUEST: Coach Cochran https://www.instagram.com/coach_cochran_   LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/     #recoverycoach #addictioncounselor #mentalhealth #substanceabusecounseling #chrisherren

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let's try this, let's try that, they wrote me Oxy. For headaches? Yeah yeah and it worked like i could coach all day all right guys special episode today i think first time i've had a college coach on uh coach cocker and thanks for coming on Yeah, thanks for having me. Fired up to be here. Yeah, one of the most decorated college coaches of all time. Yeah man, pretty cool, pretty cool. Cool to learn from you and now you're on a new mission. Big mission. Yeah, we'll dive into it. You were just out here in Vegas exploring the tunnels, right?

Yeah, just checked out the tunnels. A group called Shine A Light took us around Saturday to go feed, give them water, meet them, kind of see where they are, meet them where they are. Saw some really interesting things. Yeah. There was a, there was a guy that has been there for 10 years. He lost his entire house in a hurricane in Puerto Rico, found his way to Las Vegas.

Soon as he landed, all of his luggage got taken. Whoa. So he tried to get a job, he tried to move, tried to shake, couldn't, found himself in the tunnels. Yeah. And has been there 10 years. That's crazy. And just talking to him, he's not leaving.

That's his home. Yeah, at that point, that's a long time. Yeah. We offered him like, go to rehab, offered him beds, and he was like, no, I'm good. Wow. He's more comfortable there than rehab or a bed? Correct.

Interesting. And what I'm finding out, talking to the people at Shine a Light, that if you offer them a bed and they come to a they've never had a bed so long they freak out for the first like two weeks just trying to understand that like they have a place they don't have to go run and chase food. So they have to figure out their mindset, how they change the way they think completely because they went from every day, I'm going to go hunt either for a substance or food

and then find a way to get back to that bed that they created. Wow. But it was, it was tough because it was their home. You know, so I was real careful with how I filmed my stuff. Yeah. Did they like film like... They did. Oh, they did. Wow.

As long as you didn't... I just didn't feel comfortable filming them. Yeah. Or filming their like specific little hole that they've created. Yeah. I heard some of them get pretty pissed down there if you film them. Yeah. So I stayed away from that. Did you see a lot of substance use down there?

I didn't see the use, but I saw the paraphernalia. Mm. Yeah, that's a common thing I bet down there. And it's been freezing lately, so they're probably trying things to get by. Heck yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's a tough life. Was there a lot of people down there? The route that we went, I think we saw probably 20, 25 people. Oh, that's not as much of that thought. That felt the same way.

I thought I was gonna see a lot more. Yeah, because there's documentaries about those tunnels with like hundreds of people in them. Maybe they were just out and about. Yeah, that's what we were thinking that they were out and about, either going to go get food, going to go get with it, because it was during the day.

And then also there's 600 miles of tunnels down there. Damn. And we did not cover more than I would say a mile. 600 miles? 600 miles of tunnels down there. And a lot of- It's all about those mountains, right? So that's where the purpose of it

was to get the water to flush through and the water would come down the snow. Now so, or monsoons. So like, they could get wiped out at any point. If it rains too much? Yes. That's interesting. And all their stuff's down there.

That's it. But I guess in Vegas, it doesn't really rain like that, so. Right. That's what I was wondering. Yeah, we don't get much. Right. Maybe like a few times a year, nothing crazy. And even when it does rain, it's not a lot.

Right. Big difference from Jersey, where I grew up. Yeah, man. Rain every day there. It was a big, nothing crazy. And even when it does rain, it's not a lot. Right. Big difference from Jersey where I grew up. Yeah, man. Rained every day there. It was a big difference for me. I grew up in New Orleans. You, there's nothing under here. If you dig a hole in your backyard, you're hitting water.

Wow. New Orleans. Was football big over there growing up? Yeah, football was big. Uh, the high school I went to, to, I lost two games as a player, won two state championships, and then went and coached at LSU and obviously I rode on Coach Saban's coattails for a while. Yeah, did you want to go the coaching route or did you want to be a player? At first I wanted to be a player, but that didn't work out.

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CONNECT ONTARIO at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Bet MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. I was into a high school. I was at LSU. I walked into it. I was going into physical therapy. So I was gonna be, both of my brothers are physical therapists, so I was gonna go that route. And I walked into this high school to volunteer to be a coach. Within 10 seconds, I was in love. Wow. I mean in love. That fast. Oh my god. It was the coolest feeling. It was like this is what I meant to do. That fast. Oh my God.

It was the coolest feeling. It was like, this is what I meant to do. No doubt, no question. My coat was off, my tie was in the corner. I was coaching the hell out of the kids. Forgot about the interview with the head coach. Completely forgot. Like, that wasn't happening, you know?

And so it was really cool. You found your purpose. I found my purpose. Coaching. Yeah. What do you think about coaching just drew you to it? Helping others. Knowing something that they don't know and I don't know I have a way of inspiring. Yeah. I think it's a gift that God's given me to inspire others or that I can get on their level. I think really what it is, what it is.

Absolutely. I'd say that's probably part of the reason of your success. You're doing it for that reason. While some coaches do it for monetary reasons, right? Other reasons. Yeah. Cause you gotta think when I first started coaching, there wasn't much money in it.

You know, it wasn't something that you're like, oh, that's a great career. You know, there was, there were a few outliers, but not until about 2010. It exploded in that range. I'd say 2009 to 10. It just all salaries exploded. What caused that?

I would say the Sabin effect, um, he pushed the envelope. He got offered jobs left and right. And at the time, Alabama wanted to keep them. Right. You know, he had left LSU, he'd left the dolphins. Um, I think whatever. And so then it was like, okay, if you have a good coach, you gotta take care of them. And then that coach is like, well, in order for me to be successful, I got to take care of my staff. So he set the bar high. Oh my God. Yeah. So he gets a lot of credit, not just being for the awesome coach that he is, but also what he did for college football. Yeah. I remember growing up seeing him on TV and just really admiring it, honestly. Yeah, man. You know, what he did for college football. Yeah. I remember growing up, seeing him on TV and just really admiring it, honestly.

Yeah, man. You know, what he did was he set the tone. Yes. And he did it in so many ways, right? That was the cool part is like his leadership skills, his demeanor with players, you know, being from West Virginia, it was almost like he could get on the same level as the guys. Yeah. What was the leadership style? Like, was it a fear

based style? Was it respect? What was it? It was respect. He, uh, I think his perception would be fear based. I think that's how it looks on the outside. Uh, but he was probably the most genuine and he would give the player respect. He would earn their respect. Really? Yeah, it was really cool. Wow. Like his way of doing it is, hey, I know football and I can help you get to where you're trying

to go. And if I can help you in academics and if I can help you, like even guys that struggled with substances, like he took care of them. Oh my gosh. He helped so many guys, got so many guys in the rehab. Wow. You don't hear about this side of the. No, like really, really.

When you say, you know, you hear recruiting pitch pitches in college football and his, his pitch was real, you know? And I think Kirby is very similar in trying to be that way. And I've only worked for those two guys, so I can't speak on anybody else. But most of the time it's just a pitch, you know? But he wouldn't kick a kid off if they got in trouble with the law.

Really? No, he would send them to rehab if they needed it or he would get them assessed, get them all assessed, right? If they had any kind of trouble. Got their parents involved. And then as a medical team, he would bring the team in after the assessment and say, okay, what is the best move for this kid? And they would be like, well, are you trying to get him to play football next year? Are you trying to get him to play football next year? Are you trying to get him to play football this season? And his answer was always like,

I could care less about football. Like, let's take care of him. And maybe football will be in this future. Maybe not. But we promised him four years of education. He's gonna get a degree, right? So let's just help him do those things and then maybe football will work.

Wow. Yeah. That's incredible. Yeah, man. That's maybe football work. Wow. Yeah, that's that's incredible Yeah, man, that's who he is outside looking in you think football is more important than the education for sure You know, yeah because of the winning right like and because you see this this tyrant, right? You see this guy on the sideline going crazy, but you rarely see him going crazy on the players It was always the coaches Wow. So you had so you had the, you would take the heat. Oh yeah, all day for the players? I would do anything for them. You know, cause in my mind I was like,

I'm the grown man, I can handle an ass chewing, right? But these kids are trying to win a game. They're trying to like, hit stats. They're trying to be the greatest thing ever. You know, like I'm gonna try to block them if I can yeah cuz they probably have such high expectations for the players right yes they got to perform or they're gonna get cut correct so it must be pretty uh you need to be mentally resilient correct you know and I think and that's one of the big things that we talked about we did these things

called skull sessions with the team and And it would be after workouts, we would go into a classroom setting and talk about this is how you think, right? These are the things to get you to become successful in this sport. Look at what this guy did before you. Look at this guy. This is where he struggled.

And I always use the feel, felt, found method, right? I feel where you're coming from. I feel your struggle. I've felt that same way about something. I've found that this way will work a little better. And I also found if I did this, it did not work. So try to learn not to do it that way, but they're kids, they're gonna, you know,

everybody learns their own way. They're gonna mess up. Your brain's still developing right exactly that's right yeah I look at this decision that I made in college and it's almost laughable now it's unreal I think in that way yeah you know it's really it's really cool yeah and the first time it's really interesting because the Raiders are here, right? Well, the first time I realized about the brain, the cerebral cortex, the frontal lobe of the suit is not fully developed. I figured that out when Amari Cooper got drafted to the Raiders. And he was like, I don't, I'm not driving.

I'm like, so how are you getting around? Like you just signed a multi-million dollar deal, you should just get a car. And he's like, I'm not comfortable with that. And I was like, well, why don't you just rent a car? And he goes, that would be a good idea. I could learn how to do this. He was only 21.

Wow. And so when I saw that, that's when we started developing the mental program for football players or for college football players in my profession, right? We started developing that because they weren't, their brain wasn't fully functioning. So you could actually, I'm not gonna say brainwash,

but it felt that way because we were teaching them how to positively reinforce and positively talk to themselves. That's important. A lot of them are signing big contracts the next year and they could just easily blow all that money. Correct. And just the simple things of like, okay, what kind of player do you want to be? What kind of man do you want to be? You know, and getting behind a wheel after drinking, things like that, trying to prevent. Because during that phase, the number one thing I found was peers drive bad decisions. You are subject to peer pressure.

If your peers say, it's the old school, right? If a peer says jump off the bridge, are you gonna jump off the bridge, are you going to jump off the bridge? And in that age, you have to be really strong in your convictions. Because if you're not, you're going to jump. You know what I mean? You're more influenceable, right? Correct. That's it. Influenceable. That's a good word.

Yes. You're giving all this phenomenal advice to these players. Meanwhile, you're battling your own demons. Ooh! Was I battling? My God. Oh, was I battling my God. What was going on behind the scenes? You know, I was getting these migraines, these really bad headaches and the doc after about two years of writing all kinds of different, you know, blood thinners, let's try this, let's try that. They wrote me Oxy. Yeah. For headaches?

Yeah. And it me Oxy. Damn. For headaches? Yeah. And it worked. Jeez. Like I could coach all day and my headache wouldn't hurt. I didn't have to hold back. It was from like yelling and it would be like a vice between my temples.

And it worked. But the doc told me, hey, this is addictive. I mean, come on. I'm the head strength coach at Alabama. I've got two national championships. I'm strength coach of the year. Like I'm hitting financial positions in life. Like I'm winning and we're winning on the field.

I'm not gonna get addicted, right? Like not me, I'm the mental conditioning, mental and physical conditioning coach. Like I'm tough. That got me, it got me bad. It got me so bad that by 2015, I was snorting the pills. Holy. Yeah.

Is it more like effective when you snort it? Well, in my addict brain, because I was getting migraines here, I thought if it went there, it would get there faster. But it was really just, it got to my brain faster. Okay. You know what I mean? The buzz got there faster.

You know, I can give you the excuse of what I used to tell myself, but the reality was is that I really enjoyed it. And it let me coach all day and no one ever knew until I overdosed. Oh, you didn't tell anyone? No. So you were taking it every day for five years? Ten years. Ten years. Yeah. Holy crap. And I got up to about 50 pills a day. What? Yeah. And it was all fentanyl at the end. Oh my God. Yeah. The fact that your body can handle that's insane. It's nuts. It makes... That's why I'm doing this, right? And that's why I'm here, you know? Like, I'm not supposed to be here.

I overdosed. My wife found me dead. Like, all the accomplishments, you know, who cares? Wow. You know, so now I wanna help others. That's incredible, man. Yeah, man. I'm sure a lot, well, coaching's a stressful job, first of all, so I'm sure a lot of coaches are dealing with some sort of addiction

behind the scenes, right? Yes, for sure. And it's hidden until it's not right It's hidden until they do a press conference in there slurring their words, you know, it's hidden until oh Shoot, he got a DUI, you know, it's hidden until Things start happening at the house. Yeah, and then all of a sudden It's gone not so your wife had no idea, Sabin had no idea? No clue. Were you kind of like feeling shame about telling people?

Very much. I did not, I couldn't stop. Like I could not stop. I wanted to, I was sick of it. I wasn't getting a buzz anymore. After about the fifth, sixth year. It wasn't for a buzz. It was so that I wouldn't be sick.

Damn. So it was, this is the scary part in addiction. It was every single day. Because if there's a day without it, you feel like you have the flu. And as, in the job I had, there was no days off. I mean, we had spring break We had a couple of days a couple of weeks in May. It might be off, you know

Yeah, but like right now like look at college football. We were always in the hunt every team I've coached that right so like Christmas was out. You're not having Christmas with your family You know, there's no time. Yeah, you know, so you get like a two day break for Christmas, you know, as you get like a 23rd and 24th. Not even Christmas day. No, because Christmas day, you have to get ready for the players that show up on the 26th. We have to fly to the next the ball game. Crazy. Was that tough on your family? They they were the hostages. So, uh, addiction, you think that it's just affecting you.

Um, but it takes hostages and my family were the hostages. Wow. Yeah. 2020 OD. Yeah. What happens from there? So I overdose. I'm working for Georgia at the time. Uh, it's during COVID. So it was April 10th, 2020. Um, so I call up Chris Herron.

Chris Herron is in Massachusetts. He's got a rehab. He was the guy who played for the Celtics. Uh, there's a 30 for 30 on him. Uh, it, he was a heroin addict. And so I had gotten to know him beforehand because he was a motivational speaker. And so I, and so we called him. I went to rehab for 30 days, thought I had it licked. COVID lifts. I go back to Georgia and I just remember doing a press conference.

I was two months sober and I killed the press conference. I got, did a really good job. And that, that kind of that juice I got from it, I wanted more. It wasn't headaches anymore. Couldn't, I couldn't blame headaches. It wasn't headaches anymore. I couldn't blame headaches. And when you go to rehab, they kill all your doctors. So they tell the docs that you've been using, like, hey, this guy's got a problem.

Stop writing him stuff or we're sending the FBI to you. Whoa. Right? So it's opiate. So the docs were like, okay, we're done. We'll never write something for them again. And so I went to the street, and that's when my pill intake skyrocketed.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's when my pill intake went from 25 to 50, really fast. Because they're not as strong on the street? Because they are short-lived, because it's fentanyl. Oh God.

It's not, you're no longer, I thought it was at one point. Early I thought it was oxy or Percocets but it was all fentanyl. Damn. It's nothing but fentanyl. And fentanyl what it is is a higher high but it's short-lived. You gotta keep digging it. So you gotta keep going. And really it's mental. You mentally think, oh, I'm gonna get withdrawals if I don't snort another 60 milligrams or 90 milligrams. This is the stuff that people don't wanna talk about. Because when you think of an addict,

you think of somebody that is in the tunnels. You don't see the successful guy with eight national championships, killing it financially. The white picket fence family, you know? You just don't see that. And that's everyday life. People are battling right now.

And that's why I'm speaking on it. It's because people need to know, like, you're not alone. If you need help, there are ways to get help, you know? Yeah. No, I think this is a much needed message, man. I really appreciate you being so open. Yeah, man. It's not, it's,

it's not easy, but it's necessary. Right. You know? Agreed. So you get back on it. You end up back in rehab? Yep. So I go to rehab 2021.

Back to rehab. But this time I do like a hundred, 110 day, hundred, just say a hundred day stay. And man, I felt good. Yeah. I'm like, I got the Holy Spirit. I got all these things, man. I got Jesus. You know what'm like, I got the Holy Spirit. I got all these things man. I got Jesus You know what I mean? Like I'm killing it. I feel good And then we win two national championships back-to-back with Georgia, right? Yeah with Georgia

and so my goal was always 10 to win 10 national championships and I'm 45, right? I got eight 2023 season comes and I mean ships and I'm 45, right? I got eight 2023 season comes and I'm at two and a half years sober and I'm looking at my goal like, man, I'm going to get to 10 before I even turn 50. My ego starts getting, it just starts. And that ego tells me, what are y'all gonna tell me if I use drugs again? I'm killing it again. Like I'm gonna have ten national championships before I'm 50 years old. Nobody's got that, right? Like

no shot that somebody's gonna get that and. And I'm actually going to achieve this. I called the guy up, started using again. Wow. Yeah. So that's what caused me in January to go to Kirby, Coach Smart, and say, hey, I need to get out. I need to. I need to reassess what I'm doing.

Wow. So that's what caused the retirement in February? Yep. Dang, because you were at the top of your game. Yeah. You know, eight titles, that's very few company, right? Right. Yeah. And so, I just felt like if I can get these young men to work out when they don't want to work out, right? They don't want to do the stuff

that I've had to push them through. What about if I tried to get them to get help in recovery? What if I can help change some legislation to help people that are in active addiction? Because the numbers don't lie, right? There's 29 million Americans that are in recovery, but then there's 46 million that are in active addiction. Damn. Yeah.

And these are just numbers from the government, right? So it could be even higher. I believe it's higher. And they say, and from those same, that same group, it says 107,000 overdose deaths last year in the U.S. Wow. In 2022 is 109,000 overdose deaths last year in the US. Wow. In 2022 is 109,000. Again, they're not including suicide.

They're not including some of the other things that, substance with drinking, the accidents with drinking. So it's the number one killer between the ages of 18 and 45. Substance abuse. Substance, yeah. Overdose, overdose deaths. Wow. the number one killer between the ages of 18 and 45. Substance abuse? Substance, yeah. Overdose.

Overdose deaths. It's the number one killer. I mean, we don't need World War III. We're killing an entire generation. Yeah, these numbers are staggering. I didn't know it was this bad. 46 million a year addicted in the US. That's like 15% of the population.

Correct. And that's just people admitting it. That's exactly right. That's people admitting it and probably trying to figure it out, right? And this thing takes hostages, right? Yeah, so if you add both numbers up right the 29 and the 46 Right and then you say okay like my family. I was five in my family There they're hostages. They were in captivity, they just didn't know it. You know, once they saw me just drown and say,

I need help, that's the biggest thing in addiction, right? You have to get to a point where you just say, I need help and let everyone help you. But if you just raise your hand and say, I need help, God, let people help. Just let people help you. Give them that blessing, right? Because if, you know, if you had something going on, the car broke down and you said, hey, I need help. I'd be fired up to go help you. You know what I mean?

Like that's a blessing for me. Like let me help somebody else. Yeah, I think people's ego gets in the way, right? Yes. And they don't want to ask for help. Exactly right. Because it makes them look weak. That's it. But I think everyone goes through low points.

For sure. It's unavoidable. And if they just learn that it's okay to ask for help, it's okay to say, hey, I'm struggling with something. Let the miracle happen. People will come running to your aid. Yeah, because if you didn't ask, who knows what would have happened to it.

Correct. If I wouldn't have had the one overdose, if I wouldn't have, in January, asked, like, I need help. And it took time, right? The official resignation wasn't until February 14. It took time. Coach Smart was like, well, what do we do about your position? What do we do? Are you going to work a little bit? Coach Smart was like, well, what do we do about your position? What do we do?

Are you gonna work a little bit? And I was like, I'm done. But it took time to get there, you know? It took time to actually, you know, it was a lot of, say sacrifice, but it was an investment I decided to invest in myself and into my family. Because you're only on this thing once, you know?

Absolutely. And winning those eight national championships, it's awesome, it's great, it's cool. But like, what's next? Sure done for good. We'll see. I mean, I can't say 100% no, because you never know. But I can say that right now,

the nonprofit that I started, that I'm involved with, is very beneficial to the world. It's very fulfilling. You can impact way more people than you can as a college coach. Correct. And so that's the beauty of it. I love it.

And I like going into places where most people won't. You know, like the tunnels here. That was brave of you by the way. And then I went to Kensington, Philadelphia where xylazine, which is the zombie drug. I mean I was in the thick of it. I haven't heard of that one. Oh, it's a new drug. Is that like fentanyl mixed with something?

So it's literally a tranquilizer. It's a horse tranquilizer. And it was easier to get across the border at one point than it was from Columbia to get the cocaine. So they changed to Trank is what it's called, you know? That stuff's no joke. My dad used to take a horse tranquilizer. I would walk into his bedroom.

He'd be yelling at the wall. Yes. I got some childhood memories of that. and that stuff's no joke no joke it's scary scary stuff and it's in it's in every major city right now oh yeah I just went to I think San Diego yeah San Diego there was more homeless people than people walking around there and they were all like so out of it yeah some drug over there yeah that's it that's a zombie drug. Yeah scary stuff really scary And they get these sores

These sores that the capillaries the blood flow can't fix them So if you just get a nick on your neck, this is a little cut. Yeah, it turns into a huge damn problem That's crazy, you know and they're homeless Yeah And they need companies and charities like you because the city gets a ton of funding It goes nowhere close to the homeless people correct, you know, you got Cali getting billions of dollars That's right, and there's more homeless than before. Yeah, it's it's it's a sad system And that's why the nonprofit is so big because it's not gonna be just a little cookie cutter

We're gonna go try to fix some of those laws. I mean, we gotta save some lives and kind of eliminate the stigma, eliminate the whisper of addiction. Yeah, because some people have a negative feeling towards homeless people, right? For sure. They just see them as like drug addicts,

like you said earlier. Right. And where were they five years before then? Were they me? Where they had a successful business or a successful life that they have a, they have a great job and hard times just fell on them and they started using a little bit and then a little bit. And then all of a sudden they're a train wreck. Right. People don't see the human side of those. So if we can get in front of it right before you take that first pill

or right when you get that surgery or whatever, let people know like, hey, there's help. Absolutely. So AARAs, is this your charity right here? American Addiction Recovery Association. Nice, so visit 50 state capitals, overdose reversal boxes. Nice. The big one, the big one that I'm most excited about is the Purple Project. So Susan G. Komen, we know what she did for breast cancer, right?

In October, you see athletes and people wearing pink in October. Well, recovery is purple and September is our month. So I'm trying to get everybody to wear purple in the month of September. So I've gotten some college football teams, they're in. I've gotten some NFL, some good feedback from NFL and I'm going after every high school. I got you man, I'll wear purple on the pod that month.

Let's go baby, let's go. I got to order some digital social hour purple stuff. Let's go, heck yeah man. I love it dude, that's cool. I like that, I like purple. Purple's a purple stuff. Let's go! Heck yeah, man. I love it, dude. That's cool. I like that. I like purple. Purple's a good color.

It's like royalty, baby. Yeah, not a lot of people wear purple. Which one of the eight felt the best? Um, god, I'd have to say 2009. Oh god, one of the earlier ones. Yeah, 2009, we were undefeated. We went and played Texas in a national championship. I was at Alabama and you just don't know until it happens, right? You don't know if all the stuff you've been doing, all the stress, all the time,

all the things, you just don't know like is this really gonna work. Was that the first one? That was the second one. Oh, second one. Yep. But it was a brand new system. I was now the head strength coach. I was important to the, I'm sure I was important as an assistant,

but it was just a bigger role. And it was just like, okay, not that we've arrived, but it's working. Like now I can stand on all 10 toes and say, this is the right way, right? Doesn't mean there's better ways we'll adapt and improvise, but this stuff we're doing actually works. Absolutely.

And so that was a huge, that was a huge moment for me. Yeah, breakthrough moment for you for sure. Really was. Did the NIL change the player coach dynamic, in your opinion? Yes. But I think even before the NIL, it's changed because the coaches are just trying to move up the ladder too.

You know, so like. Musical chairs, right? Yeah, so like if they're a position coach at a Georgia or in Alabama, they're trying to be a coordinator. They're probably not gonna be a coordinator at that school. So they're gonna recruit at a high level because that's what coaches are looking for. Can you recruit?

Can you call the offense or defense, right? That's what head coaches are looking for. Can you recruit? Can you call the offense or defense? Right? That's what head coaches are looking for. And then once you get to the coordinator position, you're trying to become a head coach because you're talking about millions of dollars. So the relationship between player and coach just doesn't exist. Wow. I didn't even think about that but yeah the coaches are just swapping universities every year, right? Swapping universities. That's why I would love for the NIL to take a look at the coaches, right?

If you made, I don't know if I should be talking about this. I might get in trouble. But honestly, if you made every head coach, they're pay the same. If you were in a Power Four or at a Fifth Conference, whatever, if you were a Power Five, big time school, every head coach makes, say, five million dollars a year. So now, uh-oh, what's the difference between coaching at Georgia Tech

to Alabama? They're making the same amount of money as the head coach. And then your coordinators, they all make a certain amount, whatever that is. Say every coordinator makes a million, and then position coaches make 500. Now all of a sudden, athletic directors aren't as quick to fire somebody. Or they're gonna fire them, that's fine. They don't lose a

bunch of money. But the coaches will sit tight for a minute because they have some like, they're gonna keep us here even if we have one bad season. Right. Right? They're, it just turns into a, and it'll trickle down. Because then the players and the coaches, now instead of, okay, I'm gonna recruit this superstar player, it's gonna be, it's like a notch on the belt. So now, by next year, I'll be able to leave and go somewhere else.

But what about the kid? The kid got recruited by you for two years. You were in that kid's, in their home. You've developed a relationship. And now they show up on campus. And the only person that, the closest person they have a relationship with is taking a job.

Wow. So what do you expect the kid to do? You know, like the kid's stuck. Yeah, no mentorship, right? No mentorship. And he, of course you go because it's a great university and education and all this stuff, but relationships, why you go to a school, you know, and you try to get the relationship with the players that are coming in together, like trying

to get them to team up and that was easier during COVID because there wasn't a lot of social stuff going on. So they could really bond. Yeah. But that COVID is done. So if I'm getting recruited for two years, if you start getting recruited at the end of your sophomore year, if you're a baller like your yeah, sophomore year that end of that season, if you're a good player, you start getting recruited.

You start getting questioned. Like are you good enough? Junior year, you start getting recruited. You start getting questioned, like, are you good enough? Junior year, you've got relationships. Senior year, you just decide on where you're going because of those relationships. That's three years. And if you're a really good player, that helps that coach. He'll be a coordinator before you even walk in a door.

He's gone. And if he's not, you may have him for a year. So I think it's, if you could make some stability in coaching, I think it would fix your NIL. It'll not fix your NIL, but it'll fix your transfer portal. Yeah, that is fascinating. I did not know that was going on. And then you got the players, some of them are making more

than the coaches now. So that dynamic is, I feel like there's was going on. Yeah. And then you got the players. Some of them are making more than the coaches now. For sure. So that dynamic is, I feel like there's a lack of respect sometimes. I think respect is kind of earned regardless of the situation, you know? And I think everybody's chasing the dollar. The coaches are chasing the dollar now. When I first got into coaching, coaches didn't make money.

They didn't. It wasn't like, oh, I'm gonna be rich. I'm gonna be a college coach, I'm gonna be rich. No, it was, man, I can really help these kids out. Man, I have something to offer, right? I bring value to this organization. Now it's like, everybody sees the money. Yeah.

You know? And that shows with your track record. You stayed at the same teams for many years. You probably were getting offers the whole time of better money, right? Yeah. The best offer I got was the Yankees. Oh, Yankees who you like? Damn, that's baseball.

You're not even a baseball coach. No, that was my coolest offer. That was the best one. Wow. Did you have to think about that one? I did. I'm not a big fan of the cold and I'm not a big baseball guy. And I think to be a strength coach for baseball, you have to love baseball.

It's a different type of strength training too. Yes. It's not full body like football. Right. Exactly right. But you did have an NBA stand, right? Yep. I did three years in the NBA. I was with the New Orleans Hornets, we're the Pelicans now. I had really good players. Was that with Chris Paul? Chris Paul, yeah. His rookie

year. I had him his rookie year and his second year. David West, Tyson Chandler, JR Smith, and Peja Stojakovic. One of my favorites. Those are some hoopers right there. Yeah man, we had a good squad. How'd you like that compared to football? It was easy. Really? Yeah, I mean you go from 130 players to 15. I mean you were tired because of the late nights after games flying to the next city. But you developed real relationships with players. So you could really help them get through bumps and bruises.

You could help them when they were struggling with, even if it was a financial thing, you know, because they weren't used to having the money and didn't know how to handle this and had agents pulling at them, you know. You got to really develop relationships. So it was a great job. That's cool. Well, you've done that with your college players too,

because we met through one of your former players. That's school that you're still talking with your old college always always I got I actually got to go visit Henry rugs while I was here. Nice and that was Man, that was It was tough. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah so he was he was a wide receiver here at the Raiders and got killed somebody in a car accident. Oh I saw this. Yeah. Drunk driving, right?

Drunk driving. Damn. Yeah. So we did all the, had to go through all the different hoops, security and all that to go see him. And man, he's just tough. It's tough. Crazy that one decision can change your life so much. And to see the progression, I can't wait for people

to hear his story when he is able to tell it, you know? Oh yeah? Yeah. Yeah, because no one's ever heard his side actually. Right. The media just painted their side. Right. And what got him there, right? And how easily and how quickly it can happen to anybody.

Yeah. So, yeah, when he gets, when he's available, he's going to jump in with my organization for sure. Nice. I'm going to grab him, you know? Yeah. Did you have a good eye for talent when you were coaching? Like, did you know certain people were gonna take off? I did I have a I feel like I can read people really well. Mm-hmm

Off kind of in early Sometimes I'm way wrong and I and I get played so I've had to grab had to figure that out But yeah, I can I can see talent You know everybody talks about what's the most athletic, you know, sport and all. And to me it's basketball. Really? Yes. The best. And that's coming from a football coach. Yeah. The best athletes are basketball. They're hoopers. So if you know, if you're, if you're recruiting or if you're with a player and they're like, oh yeah,

I played high school basketball. It's like, okay, he's a baller. You know, like it's just, it fits. The only other movement would be a DB. DB would be second to me. You have to run backwards. And you need good hand-eye coordination. Wow, coming from a football coach. That's a hot take.

Yeah, man. There's always that question with football and basketball, who's more athletic? Right, basketball for sure. Well, football players are stronger and a lot of them are fast. Correct. And I'd say basketball, they jump higher,

they're more explosive, right? I think if you define what an athlete is, right, it's ankle flexibility, it's hip mobility, hip movement, and every single basketball player has to have that. Right. Whereas in football, your running backs don't need it as much, your offensive line don't need it as much, your D line don't need it as much, right?

So like your DBs need it, but that ankle flexibility to me is kind of defines and your vert kind of defines your athleticism to me. Yeah, yeah. I think explosiveness is a big part of it. Right? So like, so yeah, it's an easy take for me. I love it, man. You need that ankle flexibility. You saw what happened to Max Crosby, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's rough. Tough.

I got to see Brock Bowers last night, though. Nice. One of my former players. You probably have a player on every single team at this point. I didn't have one on the Falcons. No, I did. I did have one on the Falcons. I was like, wait, I didn't know anybody and then Rashaun Evans is there. But yeah, I have one on every team for sure.

That's insane. Yeah. It's awesome to see him thrive, you know? Yeah. You knew them when they were young. Oh, when they were trying to figure it out. When they were writing the goals down, right? When they were putting their goals on my whiteboard. Like, I want to be the first pick in the draft. I want to be a pro bowl. Wow. Yeah. Like, I want to do this. That's special. Yeah. And

so like, I get to see the, you know, and they don't reach out, they reached out when they heard I was struggling. Oh really? Yeah, I got a lot of love. That's cool. Yeah, a lot of love on that. I mean that shows you really played a role in their life then, you know? That made me feel good for sure. Yeah, I bet.

Well dude, what's next for you? I want to do some charity stuff with you next time you're in Vegas. Yeah, so we're going to try to hit all 50 states and you can find us on eliminatethewisper.com that's our website and anything in the purple project you know I want I want purple to be a big I just think that if you put purple out there people are gonna ask questions whether if it's a volleyball player wearing a purple headband right in season whether it's a volleyball player wearing a purple headband, right, in season. Whether it's a football player wearing a purple, uh, eliminate the whisper.com mouthpiece, right. Or purple socks. Like I'm talking about high school, all the way through the NFL.

And then every sport, why not? You know, because let's get the stigma out. Yeah. Like that's what we're trying to do, is just eliminate the stigma, stop. Look, back in the days, in the 40s and 50s, if you got cancer, you got fired. Really? Yeah. Wow.

Cause they didn't understand it. It's 2024, it's gonna be 2025 in a week, right? Like we're talking about, if you have someone that's battling addiction, what happens to them? They get fired. They lose their job. Right?

They, they, they are shunned. Like, listen, when I, when I went to rehab, my wife didn't get a casserole from the neighborhood. You know what I'm saying? Nobody, nobody brought her chocolates or nobody said, Hey, I hope you're doing okay. Right? It was like oh shoot Your husband has an addiction problem. I'm Worried that maybe somebody in my family has it so I don't want to be anywhere near you. Yeah, you know, so Anything to eliminate the stigma, you know, and y'all have really good recovery here. Really? Yeah, I didn't know that

Yeah, y'all have a high school here Where it's just recovery what? Yeah, I didn't know that. Yeah, y'all have a high school here Where it's just recovery what yeah, I didn't know that well make sense in Vegas We got a lot of vices out here right gambling drinking right and so any way I can eliminate stigma Let's do it man. We'll link your charity below awesome. Yeah, appreciate it coming on. Yeah, thank you That was fun guys check it out. See you next time That was fun guys, check it style, there's something every NHL fan is going to love about BetMGM. Download the app today and discover why BetMGM is your hockey home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BetMGM, a sportsbook worth a celly, and

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