With the Maurice Smith news coming out last night, I was curious what the reaction of the Alabama fan base might be in response.
Andy Staples’ Twitter feed from last night is full of ‘Bama folks who nobly profess to be worried about Pandora’s Box being opened on the graduate transfer front (many of whom lay out some version of a “I’m not saying this as an Alabama fan” qualification). That might carry more weight if they’d have taken the same tack when Chris Brown Black transferred… or when Saban took a graduate transfer from Ole Miss earlier this year.
The whole opening the flood gates thing rings a little false when you consider that the SEC rule doesn’t ban all of them, just inter-conference intra-conference ones. From that standpoint, even Bert’s “don’t allow ’em, because secret info” justification makes more sense.
Meanwhile, the tone of this thread at the SEC Rant message board seems to be mainly about Tide fans complaining about Saban’s manhood. Weird.
I point this out not in an attempt to gloat — let’s remember that Smith was competing to be the starting nickle back in Saban’s defense this season, hardly the stuff that first-team All-Americans are made of — but simply because I’m rather amazed that people who support a program that’s had a run of success that’s the envy of every other program in college football can find a topic like this to be heated about. I guess you could say I’m a little jealous of their attitude.
Get The Picture 
Well bear in mind you’re not going to get the most mature segment of fans commenting on internet blogs.
Oh. Never mind.
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Alabama Fan cannot imagine anyone wanting to leave Alabama football right now – not if they are actually seeing the field.
Neither can I, frankly. Every individual is different, and every individual has the right to choose their own path – but when do situations like these ever work out for the player?
I think Maurice sees more playing time at Georgia, and I’m not sure it’s really there.
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Chris Black, Chris Brown what’s the difference. You are a racist. Like Hillary.
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Thanks for the catch… I think.
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So if Kimbrough wants to transfer to an SEC school do we get to go through this again??
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He’s not a graduate transfer.
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He’s not, but he’s an opportunity for Kirby’s policies to evolve in the right direction.
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Vocabulary police: I think the SEC rule bans “intra-conference” transfers.
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Christ. I need to go back to bed this morning.
Thanks for the correction.
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You gotta’ be kidding me!
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intra-sting observation.
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Bert is gonna’ be out there spurtin’ blood this AM. Standing all alone with a microphone in that Hog stadium waiting for the press to show up for his follow up effete intellectual presser to this dynamic question……..or maybe not.
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All American or not, I’m assuming he’s got a good chance to be a starter on our roster. And if not, he’ll most certainly contribute. So if it helps the quality of our depth, I’m happy. It’s a pretty good trade off, methinks.
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I am all for the total “liberation” of a graduated football student, which I feel 98% of fans are, but I don’t get the continual complaints and shots about blocking undergrad transfers to other conference schools, and opponents on your immediate schedule. Admittedly, there are programs that don’t honor the scholarship until the student graduates but most do from what I see and I see it as a contract of sorts for the undergraduate years.
Smith should be unrestricted by Bama, and the SEC, because he had fulfilled his end of the commitment, imo. But I do support undergrad restrictions being maintained and hope the SEC/NCAA takes away the graduate transfer restrictions after this black eye.
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Not that you asked for it, but here’s my take (and I AM saying this as an Alabama fan): this was a mess. Saban is certainly allowed to prevent transfers to other SEC schools, but in my mind, when it comes to a grad transfer who has 1 year left, just let them go. Unless the team they are choosing is concretely on the schedule for the next year, who cares. If it had been LSU or Arkansas – don’t let them go. Other than that, let him go. He didn’t want to play for Bama anymore; why force him to stay.
Honestly, the thing that made me the maddest in all of this: Smith’s mom trying to work the angle that this was about academics, with football as a bonus. Bullshit. Mo thought he had a better chance to showcase his talents at another school and he wanted to play for two coaches that he had developed a relationship with. Nothing wrong with that; just don’t pretend that this was about academics – it’s not.
That my $0.02.
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Fair enough, it got to the point where both sides were being disingenuous. Them saying it was about academics was just as much BS as Saban saying he still had him penciled in as a starter (by that point, as I understand it he hadn’t been practicing with the team all summer and had missed the first few practices, right?). No way he ended up as a starter even if he agreed to come back after that last meeting they had when Saban said that to him. It definitely got to the point where it was best for all sides to just make a clean break.
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No doubt. Lots of spin on both sides. To your point, Saban had him “penciled in” at starter. but from all accounts freshmen Kendal Sheffield and Shyiem Carter have been head and shoulders above everyone in practices. Even if had stayed, I doubt he would have held his starter spot for long.
No doubt its best for all that it’s done with, pending whatever the SEC does.
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Already 2 weeks into practice just do not see how he can contribute much unless an injury happens during early season or,Aune special teams.
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He knows the D…he will play.
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Kirby Smart has been his defensive coach for 3 years.
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Well he has already played for in the defense before for Smart and Tucker so he should be able to get up to speed a bit sooner than a normal transfer.
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I am a Bama fan.
But I am fat and happy, so I basically don’t care.
(However, I do think there’s something going on behind the scenes, and probably has been Smith’s whole time there, that made this happen. Do we all think Smart is going to be less hard on him?)
Have a good day,
BD
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BD,
I doubt both Smart and Tucker have amnesia about their experiences with this kid over the last 3 years.
I do like and respect your “I basically don’t care” attitude though 🙂
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He wants to come play for Kirby when he can go anywhere and play. You think maurice has problems with Kirby that led him to leave Alabama to go play for Kirby? I think you need to stop sniffing glue.
Btw: nicks not going to be happy when he hears of your complacency.
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He hasn’t been happy with me since early 2010.
And you missed my point on the other…I think Saban and Kirby will both be similarly hard on him. I think something happened between Smith and Saban somewhere along the line. Mo played some real early for us, but never really blossomed.
BD
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So Kirby and Tucker weren’t hard on Smith at Bama? And they’re going to start being hard on him when he comes to UGA?
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
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Nah, I’m not saying that.
I’m saying it will be hard at either place. I’m saying Smith and Sabes probably didn’t gee and haw from the get go.
That’s alls I’m saying.
BD
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I respectfully disagree. I would say that it would be much harder at the place where you can’t stand your head coach (the same coach who trashed your belongings and cut you off from the foot supply) than at the one where you like, or at least respect, your coaches.
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Smith has a foot fetish?
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Given that Kirby and Mel were his DC and position coach respectively how exactly can anyone believe that Maurice’s experience will be different in 2016 than 2015 other than the fact that there won’t be a huge egomaniacal asshole hanging around throwing your personal belongings in the trash and calling your mother a useless whore?
(I’ve heard a lot of people saying this. A lot of people come up to me and say that Saban threw the kids stuff in the trash and called his mother a useless whore. So many people are saying this. Also Saban’s father killed JFK but nobody in the Bama biased media wants to talk about it.)
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The Senator wrote this in one of his recent posts: “Kirby Smart is a hands-on kind of coach. He was heavily involved with the defense, all over the field. He can definitely chew some ass, and did, often.”
I guess it all depends on the flavor of rear-end chewing you enjoy.
BD
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Not sure if Smith transferring would begin a trend at bama. Do they really have that many players last long enough to graduate? One would think it’s a fairly low number of players who’d actually have their degree prior to their final season of eligibility.
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Actually there were 29 Alabama players in the national championship game against Clemson who had already graduated at least once. They put spiffy little mortar board stickers on the back of their helmets to signify the accomplishment. That was a record for any school (breaking the previous mark of 28, also by Bama in 2014), and the seventh straight year the Crimson Tide had at least 20 graduates on their post-season bowl/playoff roster.
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You realize that 23 of them graduated on 12/12/15 right? Not exactly a prime time to transfer.
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Okay, y’all help me out. Supposedly, Sankey could still stop it. But if the rule only applies to intra-conference transfers, does it really apply here? And if it does apply, does he also have to go back and revoke Nick’s punter from Ole Miss and Chris Brown/Black to Mizzou? I just want to know this thing is over. I am sure Maurice does, too.
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My favorite tweet from Andy last night, “Yes, they’ve opened Pandora’s Box for all the grad students not good enough to go to the NFL to supplant all the current starters. WATCH OUT”
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ESPN article titled “Alabama, Georgia do battle over a transfer: A Maurice Smith timeline.” Did we really “do battle” over this guy?
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Does he have to actually apply to UGA grad school? School started already, correct? Or do we just automatically let the guy come practice and worry about studies later?
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I do not think classes have started yet..
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Worked out good for Russell Wilson, among others.
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I’m not saying this as a Georgia fan but, I’m happy we maybe picking up Smith.
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For everyone whose universe centers around Athens, GA….most of you folks wanted to be more like Alabama….careful what you wish for!
On to another note straight from the inside….if these damn liberal reporters continue reporting horse shit that isn’t true, none of them will be allowed onto practice fields any longer.
You like apples…….
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Well, that sensationalistic report/observation without any foundation was simply bad journalism (if such a thing exists any more.) Wouldn’t blame any coach from punishing those who are abusing their privilege. Taking a leap like that is problematic to me as a reader, and I am not one who thinks this season rides on Eason’s shoulders. Confirm your irrational exuberance or stand outside the fence, seems fair to me.
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I concur sir….number one don’t ever believe anything you read, and only half of what you see….number two Jacob Eason will play when he has earned his position, and not before.
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