Alabama insider explains how Kirby Smart may have been trying to harm Tide with timing of Scott Cochran hire

Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran left the Crimson Tide on Monday to take a job on Kirby Smart’s Georgia staff as the special teams coordinator.

It’s safe to say Smart isn’t the most popular guy in Tuscaloosa these days, and the Cochran hiring has led conspiracy theories and other reports to surface.

Alabama insider Aaron Suttles shared an old story during a radio appearance on Tuesday to explain how he thinks Smart was trying to harm the Tide with the timing of the Cochran hire. He said when Smart left, he took a picture of Alabama’s recruiting board with him:

“He famously took a picture of their recruiting board when he left Alabama to work for Georgia and sent it to recruits.”@AaronSuttles on #KirbySmart’s relationship with #Alabama as he hired Scott Cochran away from the Tide

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— Off the Bench (@OTB_ESPN) February 25, 2020

“It feels very calculated by Kirby Smart,” Suttles says. “It’s not the first time he’s done subterfuge with Alabama. He famously took a picture of their recruiting board when he left Alabama to work for Georgia and sent it to recruits to show them, hey, you’re not that high on Alabama’s recruiting board.”

Suttles mentioned how Alabama is in the middle of its Fourth Quarter program of offseason training, which was led by Cochran. He also noted how spring practices start soon.

So, was this a calculated move by Smart? The debate will rage on.