Guerry Clegg: Alabama’s Nick Saban wrong for blocking Maurice Smith’s transfer

Nick Saban must be worried.

Saban must think granting Maurice Smith, a graduate eligible to transfer to the school of his choosing under NCAA rules, a release so he could play for Georgia immediately would somehow threaten the kingdom at Alabama he has worked so hard to establish.

Maybe Saban is worried that Smith will make a big play in the SEC Championship Game.

Maybe Saban thinks Smith will start recruiting some of his former Bama teammates to join him in Tuscaloosa-East … I mean Athens.

You’d think the best coach in college football with five national championships — one at LSU to go with four at Alabama — wouldn’t worry about a defensive back who’s only a part-time starter.

Let’s give Saban the benefit of the doubt on two points.

First, let’s assume the circumstances between Smith and Chris Black, to whom Saban granted a release to transfer to Missouri, were not exactly as they seem to be. Fair enough. As an editor once told me, “Different conflicts call for different resolutions.”

Also, let’s consider the timing. Black made his decision last December, six weeks before signing day, and he waited until his decision was official before announcing it. Smith waited until June before saying he was considering leaving. Just considering it, might you.

Even if you give Saban that, it’s still wrong.

The NCAA allows players who have earned their degrees to transfer to any other school without having to sit out for one calendar year. It’s the rule that enabled Jake Coker to leave Florida State two years ago and transfer to Alabama — wow, what a coincidence — and play immediately.

Never mind that Coker could not beat out Blake Sims for the starting job or that FSU is not in the SEC.

The fact is Florida State and Alabama could have played in the national championship game. So Coker could have played a role in beating his former team. You think Saban and Kirby Smart, then Bama’s defensive coordinator, wouldn’t have picked Coker’s brain for tips on the Seminoles’ offense?

Don’t expect Saban to understand the inconsistency of his position. He conveniently interprets the SEC rule that grants a head coach the right to deny a release as an obligation.

“We support the SEC rule of not granting guys releases to go to other SEC schools,” Saban said earlier this week. “It has been our policy here not to do that unless there was a special circumstance. All right? We released a statement today that talked about the special circumstances surrounding another player, which was an exception, not the rule.”

Here’s the statement to which Saban referred:

“That instance occurred only because of unique circumstances. The student-athlete elected to have surgery in the middle of the season and left the program. Because of the timing of his departure, his scholarship was not renewed, and he requested to use the graduate transfer exception through the SEC. Our decision in this situation to support the SEC waiver was the exception and not the rule. We adhere to the SEC and institutional policies regarding issues of this manner. Waivers are not provided without compelling circumstances that present clear non-athletics reasons for the transfer.”

Saban picked the wrong mother to tick off. Samyra Smith read through the nonsense like a quarterback picking up a disguised blitz.

“So don’t tell me it’s about a violation of rules,” Samyra Smith said. “I can read you the rules. I understand them well. It’s not a violation of rules or else the SEC would’ve stopped it. The commissioner would’ve stopped it. But it’s allowed. So you make the choice about what’s best for the child, if you truly care about the kid.”

Smith said the day after he announced his decision to leave, his locker was trashed.

Saban skipped over that part. You know, kind of like the time with the Miami Dolphins when he supposedly just stepped over an injured player

Here’s another point of Saban’s inconsistency. He opposed another SEC rule that would have banned players from transferring into the conference if they have been accused, and not yet cleared, of certain criminal offenses, including domestic violence. So Saban thinks it’s somehow better to accept a guy gets kicked off a team and spends a year of exile in junior college than allow a player who earned his degree to go play somewhere else where he would be happier.

The problem here isn’t just Saban. It’s the rule, which undoubtedly was the result of SEC coaches lobbying conference officials.

The SEC needs to step in and overrule Saban and recognize the hypocrisy of its rule by overturning it.

This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Alabama’s Nick Saban wrong for blocking Maurice Smith’s transfer."