Georgia announces resignation of two support staffers, promotion for another
Georgia has announced that two support staffers are leaving the program and another is getting a promotion. Special teams coordinator Scott Cochran and offensive analyst Darrell Dickey have resigned “to pursue other opportunities” according to a release from UGA. Kirk Benedict, a special teams analyst for the Bulldogs the past two seasons, is being promoted to fill Cochran’s role.
The announcement by Georgia confirms what DawgsHQ reported on Cochran earlier in the day. He has exited the program after four seasons in Athens. Cochran had been with the program since the 2020 season. He was the Bulldogs’ special teams coach for his first season but stepped away temporarily prior to the 2021 season to deal with some personal issues. Since returning to the team in an off-field role after that season, Cochran has been open on social media about his sobriety and battle with addiction.
The 2022 and 2023 seasons saw Cochran work at Georgia as a support staffer who helped out with special teams and in player development. Bulldog specialists, in on-the-record interviews, have credited Cochran for aiding in their development over the past two seasons.
Prior to his time at Georgia, Cochran spent 13 years at Alabama as the strength and conditioning coordinator. He was Nick Saban’s initial hire to run the strength program and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was on staff at Alabama for the first nine years of that run. Cochran helped the Crimson Tide win five National Championships during that time and he was the subject of numerous feature articles and video reports, including an exposè by 60 Minutes in 2013. That piece explored Cochran’s motivational and training methods as a key cog in the Alabama machine.
Cochran was a strength and conditioning coordinator for the New Orleans Hornets prior to joining the Alabama staff. He spent three years in the Big Easy. It was the stop prior to his time in the NBA that Cochran first worked with Saban. He was an assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at LSU under the legendary head coach in 2003 and 2004, helping the Tigers earn College Football’s biggest prize in 2003. Cochran was also at LSU as a graduate assistant in 2001 and 2002.
In total, Cochran has helped three different SEC schools, LSU, Alabama, and Georgia, win eight total National Championships.
Dickey joined the Georgia staff after spending five years as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M. He did not call the plays during that time but he did work with quarterbacks for his first four seasons in College Station before coaching tight end in 2022.
The veteran assistant has also made multiple stops at Memphis in addition to coaching at LSU, Mississippi State, UTEP, Southern Methodist, Utah State, Texas State, and New Mexico.
