Every player experiences a “Welcome to Alabama” moment. And for most, it’s while they’re in the weight room, in a full “surrender cobra” stance and dripping with sweat, with Crimson Tide strength and conditioning coach, Scott Cochran.

Alabama’s eight midyear enrollees from its top-ranked recruiting class of 2016 have already started working out with Cochran, and that was an eye-opening experience for many of them, including four-star offensive guard Chris Owens.

“That first workout, it was pretty tough,” Owens said on National Signing Day. “It kind of let me know that I’m actually here and it’s time to work now. He’s good. I can see why they want him here so badly. He really knows how to get things going and keep you motivated to keep going and get better.”

In the middle of December, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban announced that Cochran would remain at Alabama, despite Kirby Smart’s rumored efforts to lure the strength and conditioning coach with him to Athens, Ga.

And since then, Cochran has maintained his intense attitude in the weight room. According to three-star athlete Shawn Jennings, the Crimson Tide players must tuck their shirts in and remove their earrings before working out.

“He’s not a joke,” Jennings said. “You gotta be mentally tough when you go in there with him. He’s gonna work you. He’s gonna work you more than you’ve ever thought about being worked. He’s gonna push you, push you hard, push you very hard. But you gotta be mentally tough.”

The descriptions of the workout routines at Alabama seem to sometimes mimic that of torture, but that’s not the case, according to five-star offensive tackle Jonah Williams. The Folsom, Calif., native relishes his time in the weight room.

“You know, I enjoy it,” Williams said. “He pushes you to your limits, and past your limits, but it’s great. I think it’s really the only way to get better and you can see it on Saturdays. The program here just prepares you so well and it’s been great, it’s been an experience. I can already feel myself changing physically and stuff like that.”

But all of this is merely the early offseason. The Crimson Tide’s Fourth Quarter Program will begin soon, and that will truly baptize these freshmen and junior college transfers into Alabama football players.

Fittingly named, the Fourth Quarter Program is one of the driving forces behind the Crimson Tide’s success under Saban and Cochran. Since 2009, Alabama has outscored its opponents by a combined 404 points in the fourth quarter.

The workouts are difficult, but the results they produce don’t lie. And one player, four-star quarterback Jalen Hurts is aware of that and ready to face the grueling challenges Cochran throws at the January enrollees in the coming weeks.

“I heard it’s tough. With the results we have here, you expect it to be tough,” Hurts said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be getting after it. Everyone will be getting after it. We’ll begin the hunt for No. 17. It has already begun.”

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Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging system or on Twitter at @Charlie_Potter.