The Triple Option - 2026 CFP Format Debate, West Alabama's Scott Cochran Joins, & NCAA Tournament Preview

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

Is there a way to properly pick the College Football Playoff? Coach Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone took a crack at it with one of the proposals for 2026 giving the Big Ten and SEC four automatic bids each, the ACC and Big 12 two automatic bigs, one auto bid for group of six, and one at large bid. Former Alabama and Georgia Strength and Conditioning Coach turned West Alabama Head Coach, Scott Cochran joined the show to talk about his time with Mark at Bama as well as his battle with addition and incredible redemption story helping those going through what he went through. Finally, you can't talk college sports in March without talking Tournament. The guys each look into the Triple Option Crystal Ball (size doesn't matter) and predict the Final Four. New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also make sure you’re locked in on social @3XOptionShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys and the TO community. (https://tripleoptionshow.com) The Triple Option is presented by Wendy’s. Head to the Wendy’s App To Get a $1 JBC or $1 Double Stack with Offer and Additional Purchase. https://m-wendys.app.link/marchmadness25   A big thank you to the rest of our sponsors: BetMGM Use bonus code OPTION or go to https://betmgm.com/OPTION and get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BetMGM.com for Terms. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA),1-800-981-0023 (PR). ZipRecruiter Try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE: ZipRecruiter.com/OPTION   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, when that song goes, what's that say? Does that say 90? Light it? Right at the end. That's a good question. Mark, you listen to it. Light it. Light it.

Light it. Light it. Light it. Light it. Light it. Light it. Light it. Light it.

Light it. Light it. Light it. The Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Head to the Wendy's app to get a $1 JBC or a $1 double stack with offer and additional purchase. Alright thanks for joining us this week. Remember rate, subscribe over at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts as well as across social media. 3X option show.

Mark Ingram our musical representative. Coach Meyer full of questions. I'm Rob Stone. Glad you're here with us on the Triple Option this week. We're gonna talk some March Madness. The guys are gonna give you their final four picks because it's what you do in March. We're also gonna have a really fascinating conversation with the new head football coach at West Alabama Scott Cochran, who was Mark's former strength coach at Alabama. He's gonna talk about his new gig, building his program up, how he's going about doing it, also his road to recovery from opioid addiction. But we're going to begin with the future of college football and the playoff system. This is something we talked about, Coach, a couple of weeks ago. There's these conversations out there already in 2026 about the expansion of the playoffs.

We're all in favor of going from 12 to 14 teams. That conversation right now, it seems like the working plan appears to be SEC Big 10 get four automatic births, ACC Big 12 each get two births, the non-power four conferences get one automatic bid and then there'd be one bid left out there for the highest ranked team who did not meet any of those qualifications, i.e. a Notre Dame. All right. So that's fine and, Danny, we discussed, we debated it a couple of weeks ago, but how

do these automatic bids, the four from the SEC, the four from the Big Ten coach, actually get worked out? And the concept, and this is a good one, is play in games. Yeah, I've been knee deep in this now, not that I selected to, but I've been getting a lot of feedback from people, a lot of confidential feedback too, phone calls from people that are involved in meetings.

I'm not gonna share names because that breaks confidentiality. And there's one that really, that was presented to me that I started reading it. I started listening. And then I did some homework on it. And this one just makes so much sense to me. You know, there's going to be one big negative that I'm going to hit in a minute, Mark.

I mean, a big negative. And the negative is that there's two conferences not getting treated the same as the other two conferences. But we'll hit that at the end. So this is the 4-4, 2-2, 1-1. Four teams from the SEC, four teams from the big 10, two from big 12, two from the ACC, and then one independent one from the lower conferences. There's a lot of reasons why I love it.

Number one is this now eliminates the selection committee. They are no longer a selection committee. It's not selection, it's access. And I think since I've been in the selection committee, think about the BCS used to be computers. And then it went to the playoff system and the playoff system now had a committee. They make mistakes. They're human beings.

They have, don't have how do you how do you decide? You know whether this team is better than the other Someone say well you have to watch tape and I'm thinking these most of those people don't know how to watch What are they watching? You know, they watching the right man. That was a great catch. Wait a minute What are you watching? And so mark you understand you've watched our you know thousands of iris tape so of I But then again, there's also bias involved. Is there, of course there is. You know, you're a Midwestern person, you can say,

it's an unbiased, okay, there's part of your being that says, I'm gonna give this, cause it comes down to this team or this team, what's the decision? You're seeing that a March madness right now. So number one, and it's a firm number one, Mark, there's no longer a selection committee. It is an access.

That means you win your conference or you're in your top four teams, which I'll get to in a minute. You're not selection anymore. The only thing the selection committee, and the only thing the committee, it's not selection anymore. It should be a seating committee.

And that's it. And maybe they'll come up with should be a seating committee. And that's it. And maybe they'll come up with a way of eliminating that. So that's number one. Number two, big number two, six teams in the big tent in the SEC are still swinging at the end of the season, which we'll get into that minute. And that means that if you see the numbers, 40 to 50 teams on week, last week

of the season, championship week are still in the hunt as opposed to 15 to 18. And then number three is you don't get penalized for non-conference. Cause you are going to see, you've seen, Penn state's got a horrific non-conference schedule. I don't blame them. If I'm, if I'm the head coach of the house state in the current model, I'm not playing Texas. I'm not doing that because we lose that game, Mark.

You know, that's, is it right? No, we all, you as a player, me as a coach, hell yeah. Let's go play Texas. Find out where we're at. You train a little hard in the off season when you see Texas at number one, uh, in first game of the schedule. So I'd like to mark, Rob, if that's right, I'm going to go back to number one and get your guys opinions number one

It's no longer a selection committee. It's an access oriented System which I'm all favor of it should be that way coach you look at the NFL model There is no playoff selection committee you play the game your record tells you where you are at If you fall into the playoff picture and it should be that way with the college football playoff as well. There shouldn't be these human error in involving the, the playoff. It should be a particular format, a particular system where, okay, these six teams, these seven teams make the college football playoff and I'm all the format for basically eliminating the selection committee and having a

system in place that decides who plays in the playoff. But the seating is still human, right? So they still have to debate who's going to be the one seed, who's going to be the two seed. But the actual people who are in the playoffs is not... Who are in, who are on the committee. So correct. Just like the NBA, there's no selection committee. Just like the MLB, there's no selection committee. Just like the NFL, there's no selection committee. There would be, who's going to say you're the number one seed, right? Does the big ten champion automatically become the one seed? No, there's still gonna be that human conversation of who the seeds are right and that I

There's no other way you're gonna do it, right? But they're still gonna have that human element in it. Is it gonna take away the debate of who those 14 teams are? Yes, is the debate gonna be who's one through through four, then who's following down that list? Of course, there's always going to be that debate. And I'm fine with that because frankly, it provides us with a lot of conversation, right? It provides better games down the end of the year. The value to programs having these out of conference games, like we've been talking about this Texas-Ohio State game that's gonna start next season.

Thank you. Thank you, college football lords, for giving us Texas-Ohio State to start the season. But that is a really scary proposition for both of those programs the way things are right now because they are absolutely, somebody's gonna get probably punished for that, right? And somebody's gonna earn some bonus points.

Let's hold that thought for a second. So I was a head coach for a long time in college and my schedule philosophy always was, and I shared it with our AD, and our AD, you know, we were on the same page. You play one big dog, one medium dog, and one small dog. You don't play three small dogs because you are not challenged, you're not, and then you get hit right in the square in the jug. I remember Ohio State played a terrible non-conference last year. What happened when they went to Oregon?

The corners had no idea that speed. And you can say, I mean, coach, I know what I saw. Now later on in the year, they were ready for Oregon speed. You know why? Because they saw that speed. So that, and I'm coaching Mark Ingram, which I would love to coach Mark Ingram. I want to turn a hand that ball against a number one D, I want to watch that cat go.

I want to get him scarred up and ready for when it's time to go play in a conference. As opposed to coaching Zeke Elliott against a team that you're supposed to beat by 50 points and then the second middle of the second quarter, you'll pull him out. And the fans don't, I mean, we talked about Penn State, I'm not taking shots at Penn State, but imagine you're a fan base, Mark. We talk, you're gonna pay that kind of money and Mark's in charge, I mean, I think Rob was in charge

of the parking or something. But you're gonna pay a couple thousand bucks for tickets and you're gonna what, you're leaving at halftime? Yeah. I'm the defender of the little man out there apparently because I love the little guy that's what he goes when you when you round yourself up to 510 on your driver's license right mark. So don't associate me with my driver's license. That'll come

by different story they take it instead. I understand the combine. Alright, so coach, we're talking three non Conference games, right and and originally you said big dog medium dog little dog, right? So now yeah We're definitely gonna have everybody should have at least a big dog. Okay, so that leaves two other I'd find a way of mandating that Yeah, I agree. I think that's great. Now how you mandate that what is that? Penalize yours. Okay, that's fine But what falls into that category? Does it have to be one of the big four conferences? Like what, my friends at the AAC out here are like,

hey, wait a second, you know, our friends at the Mac, you're bowling greens, they need those games versus Ohio State, right? Because that's money. That gets their entire athletic budget covered in one game, one nut. So I'm worried about the little guy. You still have those games. And they still have those games, but there's less of those games, right? athletic budget covered in one game, one nut. So I'm worried about the little guys.

You'll still have those games. And they still have those games, but there's less of those games, right? There's less of those opportunities to take on the Michigans, the Texases, you know, the big dogs of the world for these little guys to boost their economy, if you will. That worries me. I understand it. But there still are those opportunities. You know, what does the ACC, what does the Big 12 do? Because they're still kind of handcuffed with these two automatic bids, and this doesn't help their cause if they have a breakout season. It's going to happen.

That's my big concern. I know the ACC is better than we've seen. I know the Big 12 is on the rise. There are going to be years that those conferences deserve three. And I'm going to go ahead and say there's going to be years where they could deserve four. Like you look at the ACC back in the day. You're right. And again, that's back in the day. Louisville, Florida state. Yeah. Clemson, Miami, you know, maybe North Carolina has an outlier. How long has it been since one of those conferences deserved four? How long has it

been? We'll talk to our research department on that one. I agree with you. I'm not saying it was knocking on our door last year, but I'm just saying when it does appear and it is going to appear, how does the playoff committee accommodate that? That's a, that's a big question for me in defense of the little guy. I think it's a great question. Now I'm going to, I'm going to this, this number was presented to me as well.

So during this is just viewership. Yeah. So that means what's the country interested in? Mark, this blows your mind. It doesn't, because you're an SEC guy. Of the viewership in last year, the SEC had 440 million viewership. Yeah.

We ought to post this for the people to watch this. Eyeballs, baby. That's a lot of eyeballs, Coach. The Big Ten is right behind them 20 million behind before 20 million. Now you have the big big 12 market 169 that's almost 300 million last viewers and then you have the ACC 158 and then I mean just from the national I As a coach, which you said, I understand it. I do remember the AC there was a time Louisville was a top 10

program. Yes, there was a time that Miami, Florida State Clemson you had four big, big dogs in that conference and in North Carolina and North Carolina State would show up. I mean, even awake for so I get that. But we're talking 2025. And that's not the case right now. And we want more eyeballs on college football and SEC and Big Ten are clearly doing that. So where are the opportunities though for the ACC and the Big 12 and the Mountain West and the AAC to garner those eyeballs? So what they need to do, coach, is I think kind of what the Big Two are

talking about is they need to go out of conference and schedule. So they need the help of the Big Ten and the SEC. The Miamis, the Florida States, the Texas Texas PCs. I wanna go somewhere with that. That's fine, they've gotta be able to get a Big Ten, a real Big Ten program. Okay, well let's. A real SEC program on their schedule as well to help them

to help that conference. Okay, let's throw this on the table. That remember, I want to say it was $4 million and then $6 million. That was the amount of money the teams earned as they moved up the ranks. We saw Arizona State and we saw Boise have a, I think a buy, right? So they automatically got that money. Then they automatically got the next money. That's what I think is driving some of this where you have Big Ten and SEC and I'm not saying this is happening but if there's a lot of pushback on

this what keeps those two conferences from saying let's go play a Big Ten versus SEC tell me what that viewership would look like. It would be great but is that what's good for college football? No it's not what's good for college football. Ohio State was in debt last year after winning the national championship. Think about that. So 36 sports they have to support and you know, and I know these other sports. I mean, yeah, and that's that's a problem with when you say let's make this like the NFL where everybody's treated the same. There's 0.000 chance that ever happening in college football, because college football is the, is the financial

resources for these universities. And you know what, who they, who they look out for Mark, right? SEC looks out for SEC. For sure. Is what it is, right? I get you, I see your Colgate face looking at us right now. But also you talk about, you talk about recruiting too. Like how you gonna get a recruiter?

How are you going to be a prospect? And I'm getting four bids. I'm getting that type of viewership out of the SEC and big 10. Why am I going to go to, you know, the ACC or the big 12? Unless they're paying me a substantial amount more money, you know what I mean? So now you're talking about recruiting and how that impacts recruiting as well.

Well, I think some of those quote unquote smaller conferences almost become like the minor league baseball system, right? You're in single A right now, but you all want to get to the big leagues, right? And the big leagues is the big 10 in the SEC and you're going to take those steps. You're going to use the Mac as a stepping stone. And,

and frankly they kind of are that way right now, but the ACC and the Big 12 should be treated as the major leagues. All right. I know they may not have all the bids going forward, but they a hundred percent should be treated like the major leagues, just like SEC and the Big 10. No, they are though. They're getting two automatic bids stone to to 50% of what they get. I, I understand. And I want to know when the last time the ACC had four teams

that was going to be in a playoff 2000 format. All right. Somebody just fed me some information. We go back to 2005. Okay. Hey, I, 20 years. This is not great. 20 years, Stone. Two decades. We're going back. But it happened. ACC rankings. We forget and this makes me sad. We forget how good Virginia Tech used

to be. Right. The Hokies at number four, Florida State at number eight, 11 Louisville, 13 Miami, 16 Georgia Tech, 17 Boston College, 20 Clemson, 25 Virginia. Again, you're right. That's 20 years ago. That's, that's going back, but it does show you that the pedigree was there. And I think it can return. They can return to prominence because we saw the pack 12 being a

dying conference and in their last year of existence, they would have had three teams in the top 12. Is that what it says? Yeah. They would have three teams. So they would have three teams in the playoffs. So it's like these teams can return to prominence. It just takes one year of a turnaround. I guess that's my big pushback coaches is I want a little more flexibility, but I understand the big 10 in the sec and these other conferences,

they don't want to give it up. They want to take care of, of their own. They don't want to give it up. They want to take care of their own. Like it. Hey, are you in the mood for something new? Why not fly with Air Transat to an eclectic music scene? A vibrant nightlife and your next big discovery. Starting this summer, you can fly direct from Toronto to Berlin, exclusively with Air Transat.

Now all things Berlin feel closer than ever. Air Transat. Travel moves us. This is Carry the Fire. I'm your host, Lisa Laflamme. Carry the Fire, a podcast by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation featuring inspiring personal stories about what happens when world leading doctors, nurses,

researchers, and their patients come together to ignite breakthroughs. Carry the Fire launches Monday, January 27th, wherever you get your podcasts. My parents have had a lot of time on their hands lately. At first, it was nice. Hey mom, can you drive me to soccer practice? Sure can. We're having slow cooked ribs for dinner. It was awesome. And then it became a lot. Some friends are coming over to watch a movie. Oh, what are we watching? I'll make some popcorn. Thanks to Voila, they can order all our fresh favorites from Sobeez, Farmboy, and Longos online, which is super reliable. And now my parents are reliable. A little too reliable.

Voila, your groceries delivered just like that. All right, I want to get back to the big talking point here. And with this potential expansion in 2026, we're talking about play in games, right? So we're taking it out of the hands of the committee and we're saying the conference is literally coach and Mark are gonna be delivering the teams to you. So for example, right now, this is what they're talking about.

Again, the SEC and the Big Ten sending four programs on championship weekend, we're still gonna have your Big Ten, your SEC Championship game. Again, this is what they're discussing. So you got one versus two in the conference. Those two are automatic bids, okay? So two of your four bids already locked in. Those two teams in the championship game,

they go win or lose. Same weekend, you have three versus six in the in the conference, and four versus five, a higher seed being the home team. So instead of one game of value of real, real value in the conference on that championship weekend, you have three games, and you have six teams that are fighting to get in the playoffs, even though I guess two of those are already guaranteed.

So coach, you look at this three game play in type format at the end of the season, what jumps out at you? Okay, history lesson. Ohio State lost to Florida in the BCS championship in 06. As you wound up the season, there's probably four teams still in the hunt near the end. Okay, let's fast forward to 2014, the first college football playoff year when you had four teams that maybe gave you 12.

Okay. The analytics says last year was close to 50 teams. What has still been swinging at the end of the season. What's that mean? Your best players are playing. The fan bases are engaged. Everybody's locked in. So I will take it. I can't wait to hear Mark's take on this from SEC. Most recently I was Big Ten. Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa.

I'm forgetting someone. Those are all very, very good teams. They're not the great teams. They just don't have their, you know, they're not Ohio State, Penn State, or the Wolverines. They're not, you know, that doesn't mean they can't beat them, I get that. But the way the current model is, what chance does Wisconsin ever make in the playoff? What chance does Michigan State, what chance does Nebraska,

what chance does Minnesota, what chance does Slim? I mean, sure, you know, Lightning in the Bottle, probably not, just because of history. With this one now, you have USC in Washington, Oregon, and UCLA in there now too. You're the sixth place team. You are coaching that team as hard as you can. Mark, you're a player, you're playing as hard as you can.

You know why? You still have a swing week 11. Yes. And that's, I think of all the fact that first of all, human error is being eliminated now with the selection committee. Number two, those players, most importantly, the players, those coaches and those fan bases are swinging as hard as they can in late November, which I think is the absolute game changer done.

Sign me up. A hundred percent coach done, sign me up. 100% coach. Don, sign me up. You have enormous amount of teams that still have fight and still have hope towards the end of the season. Just think if in this format, what we would have had in the SEC last year, you would have had Alabama playing South Carolina. You would have had Ole Miss playing.

No, you would have Tennessee playing South Carolina. You would have had Ole Miss playing no you would have Tennessee playing South Carolina you would have Alabama playing Ole Miss and so that is great for college football you would I don't know what the numbers I don't know what the game would have been in the Big Ten but you would have had three games of huge value and a huge importance going to the college football playoff then you do the same thing for the ACC you do the same thing for the ACC, you do the same thing, well the ACC, they just have what, two automatic bids, right? Right.

As of now, and again, this is what's being discussed for 2026, this is not a lock in. I love that for the Big Ten, I love that for the SEC. Being an SEC guy, I would have loved to see those games to see who gets the automatic bid for the play-in. So I think this is huge, I think this is great for college football, I think this is great for the conferences and it just gives more teams Hope your players are playing like you said coach your coaches are locked in the sixth place seventh place coach

They're locked in the last three four weeks of the year because they got a chance to go They got so it's me and you and again stone stone. No, no, no stones I'm a high-low stone. I say we high-low stone What do you think? Stone's with you for the most part. We knock them out, man. We knock them out. This is great, man. Listen, here's my only two concerns.

That 400 million viewers, Coach, is going to 500 million with those games. Yeah, eyeballs are good. Big news, I hope. Eyeballs are good. Championship game one versus two, my only concern right there, and I've taken it down. I was at DEF CON 2. I'm at DEcon 1. My concern level for that is because both teams are already in, what do you really have to play for? You

have to play for seating, right? So seating still matters for the conference championship game. You've got a chance to be the number one seed. You bet you're laying it all out on the line for the conference championship game. You're not holding back some of those horses going forward. Here's the thing that worries me. And I'm only looking at this from a programmer's view, right? We're talking three massively important games from the big 10, right? One versus two, three versus six, four versus five. You're talking three massively important games from the SEC as well. There's only so many hours in the day that you can schedule these games where

they're not conflicting with each other. So does it become, you know, championship Friday in the big 10 and championship Saturday in the sec. So you can just kind of stockpile game after game after game. Do you do you have a certain flow to it? Because I don't know how you're going to get all six of those games being played one day where they're not cannibalizing. Are we done with the negativity Rob? I mean, I'm just, have you not got two or three, four, five TVs? I don't want to be flicking around. I want, I want all my eyeballs on play Friday, championship Saturday.

There you go. Maybe that's the solution. Maybe Friday. I like that commissioner. You don't get the championship designation. See I'm behind the scenes who just brings up, Hey, what about this? What about that? You don't get the championship designation. See I Behind the scenes who just brings up. Hey, what about this? What about that? You guys can solve the problems? I'm All in favor. I'm the party planner on this team play your Friday Stone

Championship Saturday. Okay, then problem solved. I think that's a good you and done D you and you and done done. Da-U-N. D-U-N. Dun, dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun. We're going to have this conversation a couple more times. I can't wait until we bring the ACC and the Big 12 on to talk about their viewpoint on this. Because theirs will be different. But if you're... But 2005, Stoner, two decades. Hey, bro.

Since they had four teams, I was going to go. You got SEC glasses and Big 10 glasses on. You are loving what you are seeing. And I get it. And I totally 100% am on board with it. Moving towards the new playoff format that is the fresh move of the week brought to you by Wendy's. Head to the Wendy's app to get a dollar JVC or one dollar double stack with offer and additional purchase. Coming up next on the triple option the remarkable story of West Alabama head coach Scott Cochran, an eight time national champion, an overdose survivor and the new head coach of the Tigers.

Like it. Hit pause on whatever you're listening to and hit play on your next adventure. Stay two nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's the trip. Make the most of it at Best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions. This episode is brought to you by Samsung Galaxy. Ever captured a great night video only for it to be ruined by that one noisy talker? With audio erase on the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, you can reduce or remove unwanted noise and relive your favorite

moments without the distractions. And that's not all. New Galaxy AI features like NowBrief will give you personalized insights based on your day schedule so that you're prepared no matter what. Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra now at Samsung.com. At Desjardins, we speak business. We speak equipment modernization. We're fluent in data digitization and expansion into foreign markets. And we can talk all day about streamlining manufacturing processes. Because at Desjardins Business, we speak the same language you do, business. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us and contact Desjardins today. We'd love to talk business.

Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's cool guests this week for us. I'll admit Mark Ingram was the booker on this one, right? And for good reason. Scott Cochran, welcome to the Triple Option head coach at West Alabama. You and Mark go way back to the strength and conditioning days. We're going to talk about your battle with addiction as well. You have such a compelling story that will impact so many people out there. But but let's start with football. Let's start with your with your former weight room guy, Mark Ingram.

How was Mark in the weight room for you back in the oh, man, was soft. He didn't do it. No. in the weight room for you back in the soft he didn't do it. No. No, he was a grinder. You know, back then, there wasn't a lot of like computers and stuff in the weight room. But we videoed everything. And he was in the workout group behind a couple of other guys. And he would always want to know, hey, what did what did coffee power clean? What did what did Trent power clean? Like he wanted to know what those guys did so that he could go beat their number, right? Because he was a later workout and so he had

the option to actually push the envelope. So it was really cool to see him grind. Hey, I'm going to jump in. I'm going to jump in before I think Mark's going to drive this. But coach, congratulations. And I know you very little, but I know of you obviously competed against you. I think this is real interesting that coach Saban and myself, I'd like to think that I I think Coach Frentz, but early on in my career, you know, I was the strength coach. I was the sports performance guy. I'd never, I mean, even way before all that stuff took place.

And then I met Mickey Moratti, who became, he was actually the number two. People don't realize this, that if I was not at work for some reason recruiting, Coach Moratti ran the program. He was the assistant head coach. He ran everything. And the trust that I put into him, and I talked to Coach Saban, he had the same feelings for you. You were number two. And when did that transformation transform that the strength coaches?

Because there was a day you paid them 50 grand and they were someone else. Now they're being respected the way they should. When did that transition take place from being a strength coach to basically running a program when the head coach was in there? I think I would say for, it was all relationship, right? Coach Saban needed to kind of groom me, coach me to become that. And I think it took probably, probably by my third year at Alabama, which would have been 2010. I really got to, he kind of gave me the keys in the summer when he would step, you know, when he would go recruiting, or he would have vacation time. So it took about three years for him to trust that on me.

Yeah. Hey, coach, man. You were everything to me, man. Like you say it took you three years, but you was doing that like an oh, wait, when I got there as a true freshman, man, like you was running the group, she was putting us through warm-ups, she was breaking us down man and you had an integral part in my development as a player and as a man at Alabama man. So I just want to say I love you, I appreciate you. Eight national championships, you got 50 over 50 first round draft picks, over 200 guys drafted in the NFL. Um, just an amazing human being, amazing coach, an amazing person.

And I love you to death, man. So, um, through your whole journey, man, just tell me, how did you get this job? At to be the coach at Western Alabama, man, like this came out of nowhere, man. And I love it, bro. Like, tell us a story, man. How does it come up? I'm telling you, this came out of nowhere, man. And I love it, bro. Like, tell us a story, man. How does come on you? I'm telling you, it came out of nowhere. I was literally so it was December

and I was starting to get that itch back, you know, like, man, I need to be back coaching. I really need to be a back around players and influencing and helping players. And, you know, the phone started ringing. Uh, a couple of sec schools called about a strength job, uh, a couple of NFL guys called, um, and then I had some special teams opportunities, uh, and it, and I, it just didn't feel right, you know? Um, and then January, I get a phone call from a guy who was a boarder. I didn't know this at the time, but he was a board of trustees here. And I thought he was calling about

nonprofit stuff about me coming to speak to his organization. And he goes, No, I need you to be the head coach at West Alabama. I started laughing. I'm like, Wait, you sure you on the phone with the right guy? Like, are you sure? And I was like, and then second, where is that located at? You know what I'm saying? Like I'd never heard of it. It's in Livingston, Alabama. It's an hour from Tuscaloosa. Okay. So you closed home. Yeah. So we're, we're between like Meridian, Mississippi and Tuscaloosa. We're right there between those two. And man, when I got the call, it was, you know, obviously it's the vision to,

so it wasn't near the money that I was getting kind of thrown at me by these other schools. Um, but it just felt right. I mean, it just like, it's almost like God said, here, this is your spot. This is where I want you to help young men thrive. And man, every day, I'm telling you every single day, something happens. I mean, just getting to talk to you today. Like, I mean, how what a blessing, you know, one of my favorite guys to ever coach, you know, and I get to, you know, talk to you today. So like, it's like every single day, God shows me something special about the place and where I'm at, to like prove like, hey, this is where you're supposed

to be. For I love it. One thing I love the most is your coaching like, hey, this is where you're supposed to be. But I love it. And one thing I love the most is your coaching staff, bro. You are going back to players who you coached, who you know what they built on. Who's on it, Mark? He got OJ Howard. He got Blake Sims.

He has Damien Square. He has Bo Scarborough. You talk about Alpha Dogs coach. Alpha Dogs who's gonna push players to the limit, know what it takes. He has him on his coaching staff and I love it, man. So tell me about what went into hiring your staff and why you chose to go get some of your former players.

Well, okay, so there's one coming out that I'm not supposed to talk about yet. So we're gonna talk about it. So we're going to talk about it. Go ahead and break it on the show. Let's break it. Reggie Raglin. So Reggie Raglin has he has done all the paperwork and all the stuff. So we're going to blast this probably next week or later on in the week.

But Reggie Ragland is coming in. I haven't figured out the best title for him yet. He wants to be assistant linebackers. So of course that he can do that, but I was thinking director of player support, player engagement. OJ Howard's my player, director of player development. Blake Sims is wide receivers. Ronnie Clark is running backs. Thomas Fletcher is special teams coordinator.

And, you know, Damien Squared's D line. So I'm I've brought in probably about seven to eight players that I've coached. And honestly, it was an it's an easy decision. You know, my phone's ringing with former players saying, hey, how can I help? And I'm not going to say no. Because to me, when you can give back to this game that has given you so much, like the amount of gratitude and the amount of appreciation

that these young men are now going to have for giving back to the game and giving back to these young men that are starving. I mean, these players are starving to be great. Like, they don't know how, but they're begging like, what, what more can I do, coach? What more can I do? You know? And it's just been incredible. You know, this is amazing. This is amazing. I'm so happy for you, coach. Coach Cochran, you have lived a life, right? Eight national titles between your time at LSU and Bama and Georgia. You also are a recovering addict. Yes. And you had an overdose

in 2010. And I know that is a major part of your story and who you are right now. Give us just a quick update on how you become an addict, how you overcame it and what you do now to support those out in the world who need that type of assistance. Yeah. So, you know, I started getting migraines really bad, like 2009, 2010. And you know, I went to the docs and the docs were like, Hey, you know, why don't you stop yelling? That's what you know for. Yeah.

I was like, how about this doc? Why don't you stop breathing? How about that? That's what you're asking me to do. And so he put me on, you know, a few different medications and nothing really worked. And then he wrote me a script for Oxy. And, you know, he wrote me a script for oxy and You know, he told me right he said, you know, this is addictive. You got to be careful

man, listen I'm the head strength coach at Alabama. I'm winning national championships. I'm on the jumbotron. I'm on 60 minutes I'm on ESPN like I'm not gonna get addicted Like, I'm not going to get addicted to these things. You know, like, that's just not happening. But sure enough, by 2015, it got completely out of control. And it was running my life. You know, I was I was snorting pills, I wouldn't even take them anymore. I was snorting them.

And it was a daily grind every single day. I mean, it was for for 10 full years. It was every day. And so in 2020, you know, I thought, hey, if I go to Georgia, I won't, I won't need drugs anymore. You know, I won't be yelling as much. Maybe I can just quit. And it got worse. You know, it got worse when I got to Georgia. And in 2010, I. I'm sorry, in 2020, I overdose

April 10th, 2020, I overdose. My wife found me dead. It was during COVID. And she found me on the ground, called the 911. They, you know, got me to and so I started my journey of recovery. my journey of recovery. And so, you know, I've had multiple setbacks since my first rehab. So I've gone to three different rehabs. I'm I'm, I'm almost 14 months right now. Come on, baby. Let's go, coach. Let's go, coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, so I'm 14 months now. And, you know, there was a point where I had to step away from the game to get my life together. So the end of the season at Georgia,

we played Florida State and I told Kirby, I was like, hey, I've had a setback. I need to get my life together. I'm going to step away for a little while. And I need to just break ties. Not like last time where I went to rehab for 100 days and then came back on staff. I was like, you know, I needed to step away.

And that's when I started a nonprofit. It's it's the American Addiction Recovery Association. You can find us at eliminate the whisper.org. And just see the cool stuff that we're doing, you know, the biggest thing that that I think is we're trying to eliminate stigma. Because this disease is surrounded by stigma, you know, when I went to rehab the second time, and people knew about it and it was public. Nobody brought my wife a casserole. Right? Like, not that they shunder, but it was like, oh, you got that problem. I don't want anything to do with y'all. And that sucks. But that's what this disease does to people. It makes people like, Oh, I don't want to be associated with that, you know. So we started this nonprofit and man, it's saving my life every day. And I know I've saved multiple I mean, hundreds of people's lives just by speaking out against this disease. Hey, Coach Cochran, my daughter, this is years ago. One day she had ankle surgery and I get home and I started hearing that because Oxy and what's the other one?

Vicodin? Vicodin, yes. You just didn't hear much about it. And then it became like an everyday, you know? And so I remember I came home and I asked Shelly, I said, you know what? And they gave her a bottle of 40 pills. I grabbed those pills, I was like, wait a minute. And I went into, I don't wanna get it because I don't wanna throw anybody into the bus,

but I went into, I went into a house date. And I went to our training staff and I said, so when our guys have surgery, what happens? And they get these, and it's, you know, it says on it, Rob, back then it said two refills. So you're getting this massive, I'm saying 40. More than you need. It might have been 30. It should be one. And so I'm not a doctor,

but I jumped right in the middle of that. And I said, we are not doing that or not. If they want to keep coming to You give them a couple of time and I remember someone saying you can't do that Because of I don't privacy or HEPA or whatever that I said no. No, I don't fire me then we're doing it We are not having these massive Bottles with refills. I think don't they sell for like 20 bucks on the street or something Oh, yeah, the black market is crazy. Yeah, and so I remember we stopped it at Ohio State I think, don't they sell for like 20 bucks on the street or something like that? Is it? Oh yeah.

The black market is crazy. Yeah. And so I remember we stopped it at Ohio State. We said we're not, and I know it stopped. Now I think it is. You can't get, you know, imagine that a bottle with 40 and two refills on it. Yeah.

And you got, you should maybe take two, right? And then you're done. And where I don't think you take any, but so, so I just wondered, has that changed? You're in the nonprofit now. I'm hoping that I'm out of the game now. Has that changed? You don't, they don't do that anymore, right? I can only tell you what we did at LSU and Bama and Georgia. And, uh, they never, the players never got a bottle

Filled that the trainers or however it was done. They filled it and they kept it And and they'd give them an envelope at night with two pills in it like hey if you need this for sleep This is it but after about three days It was gone. They never got another one. So they never got to the addictive side. You know, and it's amazing what I what I've found and seen with my own eyes. Sometimes the numbers don't add up. But I've you know, the players, it seems like players don't really like pills. There's a big fear there, uh, whether they have family members or not, but I, I, I've seen that at all four places.

I've been that players just don't like when they say, Hey, here's some pills for the pain that first thing is like, Whoa, I don't, I'm not doing that. Um, so it's, it's, it's very interesting. Yeah. Well, coach, man, uh, it's just a humbling story for me, like from a guy who looked up to you, who looks up to you, a guy who grew so much from you, you were like Superman to me. I felt like you could do no wrong.

Like, so for you to have that problem, it just shows me how vulnerable, how delicate a human could be. And I just treasure your story. I treasure you. I love you to death. And I'm just so proud of you for being 14 months sober and for the impact that you're having. Being the president of your nonprofit and everything you got going on, man.

I love you to death. And I just want to know, man, being through so much, what do you plan to build for the student athletes at West Alabama? Man, I'll tell you this. Um, it is so awesome here because the players are starving, right? They want, they want to be great. But, you know, they asked me early on in this process, what does success look like to you? And success to me is not a like this season next season. It's 15 years from now, 10 years from now, when a player can walk back on campus with their

family and be a great husband, a great father and have a legacy here at UWA. Because if you go if you go on Alabama's campus campus because of the championships and obviously marks an outlier because he's a Heisman Trophy winner but just say some one of his teammates if they walk back on Alabama's campus their name is in the bricks in Denny Chime saying that they were a member of a national championship team. That means the world to former players and for them to say, hey, look what your dad did. Like, look what your dad has done. Because it's rare that, you know, we've beaten on our chest in front of our kids.

You know, they never really learn anything about their own parents until you say, hey, this is who I am. So that to me is the key to all of this. So, so I'm, I'm putting a premium on academics. Yes. And that's just not, that's not just coach talk, like a premium on academics. We got a really good academic program here. Um, you know, it's really cool.

Cause like, it's such a small school that like if you're in the engineering program for every nine students, nine, every nine students, there's one professor like come on. If you can't pass in that situation, then hey, just jump over to the business school. And if that doesn't work, jump on to general studies or go to education. Like there's so many possibilities here. And I didn't even know where this place was located before I got the call. You know, put it on the map, coach. Put it on the map now. Yeah, we rule for a year.

Your energy is infectious. I understand how you used to be, you know, in charge of the weight room with these guys, right? And strength and conditioning, it seems obvious to an outsider like me. I got to show you some clips of a man. I got to show you some clips of a man. I bet I'm going to be able to hear it.

I bet I can hear it coming down the hallway. When the doctor says, tell him to stop screaming, it was like a legit like, please stop screaming. It was a legit request. Coach Cochran, I just want to go back to the addiction side of it real quickly. I don't want to harbor on this. And we talked about how the education of opioid addictions has really changed. And obviously for the better. Also there's a drug out there, Narcan, that can save people's lives.

Have you ever administered Narcan to anybody? I have not personally, but I had it administered to me. So I'm a survivor of because of Narcan. And so, man, it's a it's a it's a beautiful thing that they've created. And part of my nonprofit is to actually get Narcan across the country in every high school and every college. Narcan across the country and every high school and every college so that kids can go just wherever there's a fire extinguisher, wherever there's an AED, a defibrillator, have a box of Narcan because you have four minutes. After four minutes, you're dealing with being brain dead. After six minutes, you're no longer here so Narcan is a huge and I've never administered personally but I've seen it done multiple times and brought people back to life which has been very crazy for me to see because knowing I

was sitting in that chair you know 2020 yeah coach me how's the house how's your young Bullard doing, man? I'll be seeing him in the way. I'll be seeing him getting after me. He's playing. He's got a senior year coming up and then he's playing for his dad. Let's go. So let's go. Tell me God isn't great.

I mean, come on. I mean, come on, baby. Come on, man. That baby. Come on, man. That's a blessing there, man. But Coach, man, it's an honor and a privilege to have you on the show, man. I love you to death, man. You are up here when it talks about people

who have an impact on my life, coaching and how they impact players. And you are the epitome of that for me. So I just want to say I love you to death. And we do have something special on the show, man. We've been peppering you, we've been hitting you with questions for 20 minutes. We give you a chance, man, to ask any one of us a question,

man, that anything, any one of us, any question you got, you can go ahead and ask us, bro. Well, I got a national championship coach. You got the best host in all the college sports, bowling, everything. And you better not ask it to me. That's all, everything. And you better not ask it to me. That's all I'm saying. You better not ask it to me coach.

I am, I am, uh, you know, all I want to do is talk a little trash to coach Meyer. Oh, let's go. What's your record against coach Meyer? Do you know it? I'm two or one version. No, you're not. He claims that he claims the 2010 season. He wasn't the coach there.

Coach cock. He, he claims he wasn't there at the 2010 season. So I was there, but I wasn't there. Okay. But 2010, did we play Florida in 2010? Oh, yes. We had him at home and we spank that ass. Oh, I forgot about that one.

So we played, we played each other in two championship game and a one, two, three, three championship games. You're not sure the record, but I'm not sure the record, but I think we're two and one against you guys. Yeah. I think we're, I think I'm two and two because of, I didn't think of 2010. That's interesting. Two and two.

Yeah. Is that right? Cause that, cause Oh, eight lost Oh, eight lost oh nine one ten one fourteen lost. Is there another one? Yeah, two and two. You're right. But one of the one tent didn't count. That was just a regular.

It does count. You were the coach on the sideline for that team. Championship games. Two and one. You're Scott. I love you to death and much respect your one and two against me in championship games, pal. You just can't dismiss the whole team. And you got to deal with that today, the rest of your day.

Both you guys. You have to deal with the realization that you were the coach of Florida Gators in 2010. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go. Okay, I got one thing though.

I have one thing I honestly want to talk about because I think that y'all could really would love this and would jump on board. Okay, my nonprofit. One of the biggest things that we are trying to do is when you think of October, when you think of the color pink, it reminds you of Susan G. Komen and what she did for breast cancer. Now October, everybody's pink. Well September is recovery month and our color is purple.

So I've got Nike. I'm working with Under Armour trying to get Adidas on board to develop purple gear So that in the month of September high schools colleges, you know Britt Reid Andy Reid's son is on my board of directors He's gonna help me with the NFL But we are trying to make September purple across the country so that we can eliminate this stigma.

Cause look, 200 people, 200 Americans are dying a day due to fentanyl poisoning and overdoses. And we're not even talking about alcohol. We're just talking about the fentanyl overdose. That's what happened to me was fentanyl poisoning. And so any like if you go to eliminate the whisper.org you can order purple stuff. We'll have that on the website probably by the middle of April. So a month from now, you can order it for your team, you can order for your volleyball team, your cheerleaders, your football players. We're going to have purple mouthpieces, purple socks, the purple ribbon.

Uh, so that's, that's something that I really wanted to, you know, tell y'all about, because I think it's something everybody can get around, you know, uh, anything you got coach Shannon to me, you know, I'm, I'm, I got your back a thousand percent. You tell me where I can order it Eliminate the whisper dot org. Yes, sir Eliminate the whisper dot org. I'm going on there. I'm ordering my stuff. I guess what now September September when I'm on big new and I'm rocking that purple I'm gonna make sure I got me one ready I don't know what the hell's going on coach. We've lost him with the yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what the hell's going on, coach. We've lost

him with the yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, you got two new fans in yourself. Coach Cochran. Congratulations and best of luck in your continuing battle. I know it never ends. We're cheering for you. We're cheering for your football program. Let's go West Alabama. Let's go west. God bless your brother. Thank you so much for joining us on the coach Cochran. Let's go West Alabama. Let's go West. God bless your brother. Thank you so much for joining us on the trip. Let's go West Alabama. Yeah, baby. Go Tigers. Go Tigers. Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's Rob Stone marking groom, the coach urban Meyer back here with you. Mark, remember what you asked for last week? You asked for a

prop and you were upset that we were missing something. Do you remember what it was? Marsh Madness? No. What was it? It was the triple option. Crystal ball we're breaking. Yeah, we broke our budget. We broke our budget with the triple option. Crystal ball. It's so big. It's the biggest crystal ball you've ever seen.

You guys got that from five below. Hey, man. ball you've ever seen. You guys got that for five below. Oh my God. All right. So the triple option crystal ball is brought to you by bet MGM. Pick your path to tourney glory in our free to play game for each round of March matchups. You have the opportunity to make predictions about what will happen, including outcomes like game winners and over under. You'll earn points based on a scoring system and you could win a share of $250,000 in bonus bets based on your points earned. Again, the crystal ball is out here. The NCAA tournament is here. March madness. We love the chaos that this month brings in college basketball. Guys, I want your final four teams right now to start it off, because I think there's going

to be a trend here. I want to remind you that the SEC sent a conference record, 14 of their 16 teams to the tournament. Only two teams from the SEC did not make the NCAA tournament. And not only did 14 SEC teams make it, they made it with single digit seedings around them, like loaded programs. So my guess is we're going to hear a lot of SEC programs. And probably some SEC programs that Mark England

did not like. They hate to hear that, Stone. I know. It's a football SEC. Now you go to basketball SEC. They own everything. They own it all. They hate to hear us though. I know it's a football SEC. Now you go basketball and they own everything they own. They hate it. They hate it. They hate it. All right, Mark.

Since you're your official SEC resident expert, give us your final four, please. And how many are there? South? Hell no. Hell no. Michigan State Sparty all day. Air.

All right. All right. Pops is nodding. Yeah, Pops love it. Moms love it. All right. Pops is nodding. Yeah. Pops love it. Moms love it. Grandpa love it. Rest in peace.

Grandpa, I love you with all my heart. And Tom Izzo holding it down. We going Sparty out the south because we damn sure ain't going to Auburn. And that's 1,000. And then you go to the East region. You know, Cooper flagging the Duke fighting blue devils. They've been balling. But guess who they gonna have to meet?

The Alabama Crimson tie. Mark Sears, Mark to Mark. You feel me? Mark's a baller. Mark Sears. So we going Belma out the South. I mean out the East, my fault. We going Michigan state out to South, Belma out the East.

And then we go down to the West region. Florida been balling, bro. Florida been balling bro. Florida been playing at a high level dog. Florida been playing at a high level. So I'm gonna go Florida. I like them out of the West. Then the Midwest, Houston number one seed. Tennessee to two seed.

Kentucky to three. Lord Jesus is a fire., this is a fire. Lord Jesus, this is a fire. But we don't like no volunteer. We don't like no orange. We don't like no volunteer. So I'm going to Houston. That's my final four. Alright, so two from the SEC. Yeah. Yo, cause I'm not going.

Tennessee is like that for real. But I don't like them. So I can't let, I can't, I can't give them birth. I can't give them a birth cause I don't like them. There I can't let I can't I can't give them birth. All right, I can't give them a birth cuz I don't There's your marketing room final for coach your final four teams There was a time where Tennessee didn't like me and I didn't like them, but I'm okay with them now. That's good So, all right. Here we go south. I got Michigan coach. She on oh still doesn't like him. I do. Oh, oh Too soon. You get a Tennessee love? So South, I got Michigan State. So me and Mark are pretty close.

Bama East, Bama's playing. Look at Coach. At a high level. Going for the tie. I got Florida. I think Florida is the national champion. When I was at Florida, Billy Donovan was my neighbor. Joe Kim Noah, Joe Quint, Joe Kim Noah.

Joe Kim Noah. Joe Kim Noah, Brewer, Horford, Richard, I mean unbelievable. Back to back titles man, that team was, those teams were loaded. So I have, I'll go right now, Florida's gonna win it all. And then my fourth pick is Tennessee. So I have three SEC schools in there. It's legit.

I think it's gonna be great. Final four is great, but I think the Gators are gonna pick up their third national championship in school history. I've got three from the SEC going as well. You know who's moving on from the Southmark Ingram, the Barners? Frick no. The Barners have lost three of their last four games. It's

gonna continue. They're gonna get knocked out early. Damn the Barners. All right. I'm gonna get knocked out early. We love it because we don't know Barney. One of us on the triple option is covered college basketball season long. It's the guy who holds the crystal ball and all season long. The tiniest crystal ball ever. All season long Auburn and Duke really have been like battling for one versus

two. And I get it that Auburn's hit a little slump right now. But throughout the course of the season, those two programs have distinguished themselves above the rest. So I've got Auburn moving on from the south. I've got Duke moving on from the east. In the Midwest, like you guys, I love Florida. So they're all number one seeds,

and I kind of hate myself for only taking number one seeds, but that's the way this season feels right now to a lot of people. In the Midwest, I'm going to go with two seed Tennessee. So yeah, I got three from the SEC. So like really top heavy teams, a real quick shout out to some picks that are outside of the top three seeds. Here's three programs that I like outside of the top 12, if you will.

I like six seed BYU to make some noise. They're dangerous matchup. Five seed Clemson who has beaten Duke. Watch out for the Tigers and Maryland man what Kevin Willard's been able to put together last back half the season winning games on the road which is a big problem. Maryland is a four seed. I think those guys can cause some problems. You take a look at the numbers from Bet MGM and Duke and Florida are your favorites. Auburn and Houston right behind them. Bama, Tennessee, your Spartans St. John's sitting there as a two seat coach. Patino might be able to make some, some news would be good for the big East as well. So March madness is here. There's your final four picks. Can't wait for you guys to follow it. Okay. What'd you say? I'm sorry about

the barn. Mark Sears at the buzzer with the left hand. That's all you can go tell Jani broom He's not gonna win the national title. You go ahead and tell that to tonight room. All right follow subscribe rate is call I'll get him on the show Spotify wherever you get your podcast as well as across social media 3x option show Thanks as always for our wonderful wonderful sponsor zip recruiter betGM, and Wendy's. And as always, thanks for watching. The triple option, I can't wait what we use the crystal ball for next week. Cooper flag is him.

Crystal ball. Him.