Report: Alabama grants Smith full release
Maurice Smith might finally have what he has long desired.
According to a report from The Tuscaloosa News on Wednesday, the senior defensive back has been granted a full release from Alabama, allowing him to transfer to any school in the SEC. The status of the transfer would depend on approval of a waiver by the conference.
Smith, who graduated from Alabama on Saturday, had previously expressed interest in transferring to Georgia but was blocked due to an SEC bylaw requiring Alabama’s release for any transfer to an in-conference school.
Prior to the report, Alabama head coach Nick Saban addressed the topic during his Wednesday press conference with the media, stating the situation was beyond the program’s control.
“We have done everything that we can do institutionally to allow the conference to make the decision about whatever they decide is in the best interest of the conference and the SEC rules relative to Maurice Smith,” Saban said. “So that is past us now. It is beyond us. We don’t really need to talk about that anymore and I don’t have any other comments to make about it. We’re trying to focus on the guys we have here and what we need to do to help those guys have a chance to be successful.”
Later in his press conference, Saban was asked how the situation with Smith altered his plans in the secondary. The head coach responded by saying the team was going to focus on working with what is has while rotating young players into different positions.
“We’ve got some young guys that I think can be really good players,” Saban said. “But it’s a work in progress to sort of get those guys to know and understand not only what we do, but all the adjustments we have to make for what other teams do when we play them.”
One of those players could be redshirt freshman Kendall Sheffield, who has worked opposite of sophomore Marlon Humphrey at cornerback in the Tide’s first unit. Saban was asked about the former five-star recruit during the press conference.
“I think we just keep trying to work reps, reps, reps, so that he can play his position with a little more naturally instinctive reactions,” Saban said of Sheffield. “He certainly has a lot of ability and we’re certainly trying to bring it out of him in every way we can. Right now it’s a work in progress and he is making progress. We certainly would like to be able to enhance that with a little better coaching on our part.”
If Smith transfers, he will be the fifth Tide player to do so this summer, joining sophomore receiver Dalyon Charlot, safety Shawn Burgess Becker, redshirt freshman linebacker Adonis Thomas and freshman linebacker Christian Bell.
This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Report: Alabama grants Smith full release."