We have had an interesting few days when it comes to tampering and college football.
Chuck Martin, the head coach of the University of Miami at Ohio, accused Kalen DeBoer and the University of Alabama of tampering to get placekicker Graham Nicholson. Martin stated on a podcast that Alabama ‘stole his kicker.’
DeBoer’s response was Nicholson entered the NCAA transfer portal, Alabama reached out to him, and he responded by transferring to the Tide.
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Once a player’s name enters the portal, it is fair game for everyone. Nick Saban, the former head coach of Alabama football, remembers several teams trying to poach his players after he retired.
Now an analyst for ESPN, the 72-year-old shared the insight Saturday on the College Football GameDay panel. He said investigations should have been done back on January 10.
“The one thing I liked to say is when I retired, there were people camped out in Tuscaloosa to get players to go into the portal,” Saban said. “So if they wanted to look at somebody tampering, they should have done a little investigation right there.”
Saban’s final season coaching at Alabama (2023) finished with a Southeastern Conference Championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff. The Tide lost several players to other programs, including Caleb Downs, Isaiah Bond, Earl Little II, Roydell Williams, Trey Amos, Antonio Kite, Jake Pope, Shawn Murphy, and much more.
The nucleus of the team remained to work under Coach DeBoer, but Saban still feels that tampering happened to get players away from his program.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
