Scott Cochran and the Fourth Quarter program's effect on Alabama Football

Cochran vital to Tide in leading 'fourth-quarter program'

Published on Dothan Eagle - Alabama Sports | shared via feedly

Alabama football players work under the constant glare of Nick Saban and his coaching staff for one month in the spring and from August through the end of the season. The rest of the year, they work under strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran, who oversees and administers the offseason conditioning and lifting regimen that Alabama calls the “fourth-quarter program.”

 Players often call it something else, particularly when they are gasping for breath. Perhaps that is why the Crimson Tide’s first spring practice Friday was, according to Saban, linebacker Nico Johnson and tight end Michael Williams, so sharp.

“It was kind of a relief,” said Johnson, the rising senior from Andalusia. “I mean, we’ve been going through the fourth-quarter program for about a month almost, just doing a lot of running. Just to get back to going through some plays, being around the coaches and just getting back into the whole football thing, it was exciting.” Williams, the rising senior from Reform, was a bit more direct.

“Once you go through fourth quarter, you’re ready to just see a football,” Williams said. “Fourth quarter is probably the worst thing you’ll ever do in your life. It’s terrible.”

Read the rest here.