Saban doubles down on transfer block

Alabama head coach Nick Saban continued to field questions Sunday about senior cornerback Maurice Smith’s transfer situation

Smith, who graduated Saturday, would like to transfer to Georgia. However, the senior cornerback is being blocked by Alabama due to an SEC rule that states he must first be granted a release in order to transfer to an in-conference program.

Saban has stated numerous times that he plans to maintain the SEC’s policy and not grant Smith his release to Georgia. Sunday, he solidified that stance further.

“The extent that college athletes can go other places are rules that originate from the NCAA and are rules that originate from our conference office,” Saban said. “These rules were made by presidents, chancellors, and we have always supported those rules. And I will continue to support those rules, and I have supported those rules when the conference office has granted waivers relative to what they seek for the players, and we will continue to do that in the future.”

Saban also stressed that he is just abiding by the SEC’s policy on the matter.

“I don’t run the conference, Alabama doesn’t run the conference; the conference runs Alabama,” Saban said. “They make the rules that we live by and every other conference school lives by. If the presidents and chancellors think these rules should be changed, I think that’s something for them to discuss and make a decision on, and I think I have always supported what our administrators have thought was best for this league.”

Saturday, Georgia head coach and former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said he would “absolutely” grant a player his release to another SEC school if the situation occurred.

Smith stated he felt “ostracized” by teammates and claimed he was banned from using the team’s athletic facility after informing Alabama of his transfer intentions, according to a letter he wrote to Alabama’s appeal committee which was provided to the Atlanta Journal Constitution last week.

When asked about the team’s workout policy with transfers, Saban seemed to contradict Smith’s statements.

“Our policy here is that a player can continue to workout here, but he doesn’t really work out as a part of our team if he’s choosing to leave our team.” Saban said. “That’s pretty much the way we’ve tried to manage it, and we’ve never had an issue with it that I can recall. Coach (Scott) Cochran even helps them work out.”

Saban went on to say the team does not take an adversary approach to transferring players.

“There has never been a player that has left this program that I haven’t tried to talk into staying, not one,” Saban said. “I really do think it’s in the best interest sometimes of a player to overcome the adversity that he’s faced with.”

Being No. 1

Alabama was named No.1 in the USA Today’s preseason Amway Coaches Poll on Thursday. The feat, however, failed to have a great affect on Saban.

“I think y’all know that I don’t think we should have rankings until the fifth or sixth game of the year when somebody can see people play and know exactly how all these things get answered relative to the consistency you play with,” Saban said. “I don’t know where we are on a national basis. I don’t really know where we are in the SEC relative to where everybody else is. I don’t even know where we are in the Western division.”

While the Crimson Tide returns one of the strongest teams in the nation on paper, Saban warned his group is still very much a work in progress.

Saban said he was pleased with his team’s performance and stated they “have gotten a little more acclimated with each practice.” However, he said there are still plenty of questions his team will have to answer if they are going to repeat as champions.

“The team is evolving,” Saban said. “The team is evolving an identity. The team is evolving a personality of, how do we confront challenges, overcome adversity.”

Finding a leader at quarterback

Last season, Jake Coker won over the team with a Week 3 performance against Ole Miss. Winning over the locker room will again be a key factor in determining a starting quarterback this season, with the Tide looking to find its guy before the preseason ends.

“I would hope that somebody can do it in practice, especially when we have two scrimmages in the fall,” Saban said. “I think that that’s an important piece of this.”

Three practices in, it is difficult to tell if any of Alabama’s four quarterbacks have made that step. Sunday, Saban said scrimmages might offer a better indication of how ready each candidate is.

“You have to evaluate, is this guy ready to take that step,” Saban said. “Then you hope he is ready to take the step to do it in that circumstance to take that step in the game.”

Injury update

Saban said junior running back Derrick Gore injured his knee and should be sidelined about two weeks. Gore had 15 yards on six carries last season while also spending time on special teams.

“We’ll probably replace him in the 105, because I don’t think he’ll be able to compete until school starts.” Saban said.

This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Saban doubles down on transfer block."