ATLANTA - Individuals who have battled addiction will tell you how difficult that journey can be.

When you finally defeat the beast, it’s a feat worthy of celebration.

That's certainly been true for Scott Cochran, who proudly took to Twitter on July 4 to celebrate being one year sober.

In the tweet, a smiling Cochran tells his followers that “this one means a little more than the ring,” while flashing the hardware he earned while a member of the staffs at Alabama, LSU, and Georgia.

Current boss and longtime friend Kirby Smart reflected on Cochran’s journey Wednesday at SEC Media Days.

“We commit to having conversations. The commitment to Scott was that he's committed to our program and getting better. You look at what he's done with our players,” Smart said. “Scott Cochran spends a tremendous amount of time with our players on a personal level. They value the relationship that he creates with them. He spends time with them, meaningful time with them.”

Bulldog center Sedrick Van Pran affirmed Smart’s statement as 100 percent true.

“Coach Cochran, he’s the beacon of the team in my opinion. That guy has been through a lot in life and he has a lot of wisdom,” Van Pran said. “Just being able to talk to that guy and have him as motivation, it means a lot to me. Like me, Coach Cochran is from New Orleans, so that’s somebody I’ve talked to a lot through my process and my time at Georgia, somebody I owe a lot of gratitude toward. I’m truly grateful for him and his family.”

It was August a year ago when Cochran stepped away from the program and his role as the Bulldogs’ special teams coordinator.

His absence predicated the move of Will Muschamp into a new role as an on-field coach. Today, Cochran is still listed on Georgia’s official website as the team’s offensive coordinator, although he’s no longer an on-field assistant.

Nevertheless, Cochran’s importance to Smart and the Georgia program cannot be underscored.

“I love Coach Cochran. He’s 100 percent real and as far as men who can put their ego to the side … that’s Coach Cochran,” linebacker Nolan Smith said. “He puts his ego to the side, comes in and makes people better, despite what he’s been through.”

Quarterback Stetson Bennett said Cochran has been quite open about his situation and that’s helped everyone involved inside the Bulldog program.

“He’s been open with us,” Bennett said. “He let us know what’s been going on and how he’s been fighting with it. I think it helps the players when somebody is that open, who we respect, and we look up to and listen to. It helps us open up to us and to him.”

Smart agreed.

“I think a lot of our players saw the human side with Scott, that we all know addiction is real. It probably affected me as the leader of the organization for the first time, to have someone on your staff be involved with that,” Smart said. “I got a lot of help from outside sources on how to do it. I'm so proud of what he's done and how he's fought back to bring himself back and be the husband and father that he's always been. He's a tremendous husband and father. That's first. He's a mentor to the players on our team.”

They are not the only ones.

As a 13-year assistant at Alabama under Nick Saban, Smart revealed Cochran’s former players still reach out to him today and have even come to Athens to work out under his guidance.

“He's got tons of players that played at Alabama that still reach out to him and talk to him. They come and work out at our place and see him because they value that relationship that he had with them,” Smart said. “He's a special person that's meant a lot to a lot of people. We've stood there by him and supported him, and we'll continue to do that.”