Scott Cochran’s decision to leave Nick Saban’s Alabama program continues to hurt the Crimson Tide program.

At least, that’s the way SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic sees it.

When Cochran jumped ship to join Kirby Smart’s Georgia program, which left Alabama without its longtime head strength coach leading up to spring practice, many saw the move as a calculated one that would hurt the Crimson Tide’s offseason program.

While no one could have seen just how badly Cochran’s departure could hurt Alabama, the fact that spring practice was all but wiped out in Tuscaloosa compounds the fact that Saban’s program has a new voice leading the strength program.

During a recent appearance on Mississippi based radio show “Out of Bounds” hosted by Bo Bounds, Cubelic was asked to share his reaction to Cochran’s decision to leave Alabama. The way the SEC Network analyst and Alabama radio host sees it, the fallout from the coronavirus hurts any program looking to replace its strength coach that much more this offseason.

“The majority of the reaction on my show was, ‘It’s a strength coach, calm down. We’re still Alabama.’ My personal reaction was, it’s the biggest coaching loss that Nick Saban has suffered since he’s been in Alabama,” Cubelic said on the show. “That has been magnified by the fact that that team had four or five workouts with the new strength staff before this quarantine before they left campus. So, that bond, that chemistry, that expectation, that respect, that desire, that ‘want to do for’ attitude does not exist for these players with that staff. It doesn’t, it can’t, there’s no way.”

That’s an interesting point to make and one that is compounded by the fact Alabama’s players are all off campus now and back home with their families. There’s no telling how many of those players even have access to weight rooms and the nutrition plans set up for them by the Alabama program but it’s a safe bet that most of them won’t have anything close to the facilities that are available for them to use in Tuscaloosa.

More importantly, according to Cubelic, the sense of everyday competition will be lacking for most college athletes and that could have ramifications once football is resumed.

“The part of it that’s going to be difficult for every single player, every player, I don’t care who you are, is you aren’t going to have access to the equipment, the facilities, the nutrition, the recovery, the guidance, the coaching, none of that,” Cubelic continued. “Now, some might have a little more than others, but none of them are going to have all of it.

“And so to anticipate that these guys are going to come back, comparatively to anywhere near as in good shape as they would have been, is asinine. It’s insane to even consider. And the main part, the key cognizant, the part that will hurt them the most, that they do not have for the last three weeks and may not have for the next two months, is competition and competition breeds greatness.”