Miami (Ohio) kicker Graham Nicholson transferred to Alabama this offseason. Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin apparently still isn’t happy about what happened.
On Wednesday, in an interview with Miami Sports Network’s Terry Bridge, Martin was asked about Nicholson’s departure, specifically, how he had “lost his kicker.” Martin quickly responded by accusing the Crimson Tide of stealing his kicker and complaining that no one seemed willing to talk about it.
Martin seemed quite angry as soon as he started speaking:
Martin’s full response:
“We didn’t lose him, he’s at Alabama. We know exactly where he is. Again, media people, it’s all bullshit. Like, no, Alabama stole our kicker from us. They illegally recruited our kicker and stole him from us and that’s a fact, but we act like it’s not. We live in this fantasy world, like, ‘Hey, let’s not talk about it. ’ I don’t know why. Everybody knows what’s going on, so yeah, Alabama stole our kicker from us. A couple other schools tried to steal him from us, but then… OK, what was the question?”
A day later, the question came to Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. Your answer:
“I don’t know anything about that comment. He went on the portal and we contacted him. That’s how it works, right? So we did everything we were supposed to do.”
Nicholson was a truly bad player for Miami and a significant loss for Alabama in his first offseason under DeBoer.
The 21-year-old won the Lou Groza Award for being the nation’s top kicker last season after converting 27 of 28 field goals and 35 of 37 extra points. That included a 52-yarder. He’s now set to replace Will Reichard, a five-year starter under Nick Saban who earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Year honors last season and graduated as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.
Under normal circumstances, a kicker transferring from Miami (Ohio) to Alabama for his senior year wouldn’t be viewed as suspicious. Group of Five All-Americans often transfer to major programs, especially those with a major void at the position.
Martin’s words indicate that there may have been more going on behind the scenes, but at the same time, saying that another program “stole” his player is a bit of a weak phrase, considering that stealing, by definition, makes the subject property. And as we’re learning in the modern era of NIL, athletes are quite capable of acting on their own.
(tags to translate)Chuck Martin