[4] After returning to Schembechler's good graces, Cochran started all 12 games at strong side cornerback for the 1983 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled a 9-3 record, played in the 1984 Sugar Bowl, and finished the season ranked #8 in the final AP Poll.
[7] At the end of the 1985 season, Cochran was selected as a consensus first-team defensive back on the 1985 College Football All-America Team.
Possessing exceptional speed and agility, he proved extremely durable, never missing a start over the final three years of his brilliant career.
[12][13] Cochran signed a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Raiders in July 1986,[14] but he injured his back during the fourth pre-season game, underwent surgery to remove a disc and perform a two-level vertebrae fusion, thus ending his football career.
[17] Cochran later worked as an assistant football coach responsible for the defensive secondary at his alma mater, Brother Rice High School.