The Alabama Crimson Tide are losing strength coach Scott Cochran to the Georgia Bulldogs.

Cochran has been with Nick Saban since Saban took the job at Alabama in 2007, so this loss is a big one for the Crimson Tide staff.

On Monday evening, Saban spoke with Chris Low of ESPN, saying Cochran wanted to get into on-field coaching and Alabama simply didn’t have a spot for him:

“Scott did a really good job for us here and was a big part of our success, but he was looking for a new career path,” Saban told ESPN. “He wanted to get on to the field coaching and would like one day, I think, to be a head coach. We didn’t really have anything here to offer him along those lines, and Georgia did. I understand him wanting to take on that path.

“As good as Scott was for us here as our head strength coach, it’s probably best for him and best for us if he’s able to do there at Georgia what he wants to do now with his career.”

We’ll see what role Cochran lands on Georgia’s staff and how his career progresses over the next few years in Athens.