The college football coaching staff at the University of West Alabama is absolutely loaded with big names. A vast majority of the staff won a national championship with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
That is not that much of an exaggeration.
There are almost as many college football national champions on the roster than not. Even the head coach spent more than a decade working under Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa.
What and where is the University of West Alabama?
I do not blame you if you are not familiar with the University of West Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school actually began as a church-supported school for young women called the Livingston Female Academy. It became what it is today in 1995. It enrolls approximately 5,100 students.
The campus sits on 600 acres in Livingston, Alabama near the westernmost border of the state. Livingston has a population of less than 5,000 residents when class is not in session.
The Tigers compete in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men’s sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, rodeo, soccer, tennis, and (outdoor) track and field. Women’s sports include basketball, cross country, rodeo, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and (outdoor) track and field. All sports except for rodeo compete on the Division II level of NCAA competition as members of the Gulf South Conference.
The football team finished last season at 5-4 after a 9-2 record in 2024. West Alabama won a national championship (as Livingston University) in 1971. It won the Gulf South in 2012 made the postseason five times since 2010. However, it only made it out of the second round in one of those five appearances.
The college football coaching staff is loaded with former Crimson Tide national champions.
Scott Cochran was hired as the head football coach at the University of West Alabama on Feb. 3, 2025. The Tigers started his first season at 5-0 but they proceeded to lose their next four games.
This is year two of the Cochran era. Cochran has won eight Division-I national championships throughout his coaching career. He started as a Grad Assistant at LSU in 2001-2002 and had a brief stint with the New Orleans Hornets before he took over as the strength and conditioning coach at Alabama from 2007-2019. He also spent time in the same role at Georgia from 2020-23.
Coaching under Cochran are a lot of his former players. They all hail from the University of Alabama.
- Ronnie Clark — Running Backs Coach
- Linebacker and running back at Bama from 2014-2018
- Two national titles
- Thomas Fletcher — Special Teams Coordinator, Tight Ends Coach
- Long snapper at Bama from 2017-2020
- Two national titles
- Patrick Mannelly Award
- NFL, XFL
- O.J. Howard — Director of Player Development
- Five-star recruit
- Tight end at Bama from 2013-2016
- National championship, three SEC championships
- First round NFL Draft pick
- Reggie Ragland — Director of Player Personnell
- Linebacker at Bama from 2012-2014
- First Team All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year
- 2nd round NFL Draft pick
- Bo Scarbrough — Director of High School Relations
- Five-star recruit
- Running back at Bama from 2014-2017
- Two national championships
- NFL, USFL
- Blake Sims — Wide Receivers Coach
- Running back and quarterback at Bama from 2010-2014
- Two national championships
- Second Team All-SEC
- NF, CFL
- Damien Square — Defensive Line Coach
- Defensive tackle at Bama from 2008-2012
- Three national championships
- NFL
Remember those names? Howard, Ragland, Scabrough and Sims might be the most recognizable but Square had the longest professional career of them all!
Now they are all down in Livingston, Alabama to coach at the University of West Alabama under their former strength coach. Keep an eye on the Tigers this fall. Their coaching staff certainly knows what it takes to win a national championship. A lot of them won more than one!