Scott Cochran thought he might be a goner.

In his second season as the Alabama strength and conditioning coordinator in 2008, Cochran was leading the Crimson Tide players through a series of stretches before the practice. He went through the regular routine, one that became a custom for Alabama players for more than a decade. He'd have the players alternate between stretches, while screaming his lungs out with enthusiasm. It was his approach to set an early tone for the day, even if it was something as mundane as pre-practice stretching.

For this particular week in 2008, Alabama was preparing to play Georgia—a team that had announced it would wear black jerseys at home. With local media on hand to take notes and film the open portion of practice, Cochran’s voice boomed and echoed as he yelled across the field in his trademark gravelly voice. But suddenly, his voice dropped a bit in volume as he spoke the now-infamous phrase in front of everyone, including those recording.

“They’re wearing black because they’re going to a motherf------ funeral,” Cochran said.

Even though he softened his voice, camera microphones caught the comment.

The clip went viral—by 2008’s standards—and caught the young strength coach in some hot water with the Alabama staff. When the comment became public, Cochran worried it might be the end of his time at Alabama.

“I wasn’t planning on it becoming public at all. But at the same time, when it did, I was scared to death,” Cochran said. “I was 29 years old, I think. Whew! I thought I was going to lose my job.”

Obviously, coaches are going to offer blunt assessments and speak without worry in front of their players. But when the cameras are on, not often do you catch a coach poking fun at the upcoming opponent. No assistant wants to be responsible for providing an opposing team with bulletin board material.

Immediately, Cochran was reminded by fellow staffers that Georgia, undefeated and ranked No. 3 at the time, didn’t need any extra motivation for such a game. Yet there Cochran was, serving such a thing up for the Bulldogs on a silver platter.

Fortunately for Cochran, whatever extra motivation Georgia gleaned from the incident didn't matter. Alabama blew the Bulldogs out 41-30. The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated, with the Crimson Tide holding a 41-17 lead with 4:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Also fortunately for Cochran, he didn’t lose his job after the funeral comment. Cochran would remain Alabama’s strength and conditioning coordinator and hold this role for 13 seasons. He even had a chance to take the same position with Georgia when head coach Kirby Smart was hired, although he turned it down and received a raise to stay at Alabama.

Cochran finally left once Smart was able to offer him an on-field coaching position to be Georgia’s special teams coordinator.

Cochran has wanted that responsibility for quite some time. With his special teams background—and with the fact that strength and conditioning coordinators typically play a role during their own periods of practice—this move made plenty of sense. It also reunited Cochran with Smart, with the two coaches enjoying a long friendship that goes back to when they both were on Nick Saban’s staff at LSU in 2004.

Smart said Cochran’s presence has been potent since he jumped on board with the program.

"Scott’s energy has certainly come through," Smart said. "He’s an energetic, very demanding coach, and has done a very good job in front of the team and the (special teams) units. I think he’s very comfortable doing that, because he was always in front of the team in his past jobs being a strength coach. He’s done a good job with that, and the players respect him and a lot of them know him through recruiting."

Offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer said players are always going to get a pick-me-up of some sort when they cross paths with Cochran.

"Energy, I’m telling you," Salyer said. "It’s every day. Forget the practice field—in the hallway, he’s energetic. You hear that voice, and it just cracks me up. He does everything full go. He brings a whole other level of spirit to the team. Where you can find something wrong with a situation, he's going to find a way to get that extra one percent from you. I’m really excited to go through the season with him, because you can see the impact he had at Alabama. I’m excited to see his impact on our special teams unit. It’s going to be really exciting to have him on the field."

It’s doubtful that many (if any) of the Georgia players on the 2020 roster remember Cochran’s funeral comment from 2008. And if Cochran has his way, that won’t change now that he’s crossed over and is a member of the Georgia coaching staff.

“The great thing about that is that no one remembers that—the players (at UGA),” Cochran said. “No one even knows about it, so don’t tell anybody. Help me out a little bit; I’m trying to gain their respect around here. I was kind of keeping that on the (down low), right now.”