The Choice Between Staying or Fighting: Intra-Conference Transferring — A Maurice Smith Story
By Trey Wallace and Oliver Connolly
In a time where graduate transfers are just as common as its near namesake, the question we all continue to ask ourselves drones on: should a player be able to attend anywhere he wants, and transfer whenever he wants, after he has excelled academically at one stop?
It’s an all too familiar situation in the Southeastern Conference, where football & Nick Saban are King. I wanted to know what it was like for a young man to try to transfer within the same conference, and the craziness that ensues once you poke the bear.
Maurice Smith wants to tell you.
Smith was the first highly publicised case of an intra-conference graduate transfer, stuck between the beckoning hands of new Georgia coach Kirby Smart and all-powerful, all-everything, Alabama-icon, Nick Saban — Kirby’s ex-boss.
Mo isn’t the only one. Alabama lineman Brandon Kennedy faces a similar tussle. He currently sits in transfer purgatory (“reportedly”) between the Crimson Tide, Jeremy Pruitt and the folks in Knoxville, those dastardly War-Damn-Eagle’s just a three hours drive away, and a potential rule change that could detonate the transfer rule as we know it.
This Q&A was supposed to tell a simple story: student Maurice Smith enrolling in a new school for a fresh start. It turned into a wild four months. It serves as a warning and reminder that although the NCAA continues to push the phrase “Student-Athlete”, the latter remains far more important than the former.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The Read Optional: Firsts things first: how are things going down in Miami with the Dolphins?
Maurice Smith: They’re going great. Right now, it’s OTAs and stuff. I’m just working to get better.
TRO: Can you sum up your time in Tuscaloosa?
Smith: It was a great experience. Basically, I played for a National Championship every year I was there — that’s fun. It was a blessing to be able to get there straight out of high school. I learned a lot, and I give all credit to coach Saban for putting me in the position I am now. He made me what I am as a football player, on the field and in terms of my knowledge of the game. I salute him; he gets all my credit.
TRO: Given that great experience, what was the reason for wanting one more stop before your college career ended?
Smith: I saw it an opportunity when coach Smart and coach Tucker told the team they were about to leave and go to Georgia. I had never received an offer from them — it was one of the few schools who never offered me. Once coach Smart told me, I wanted to make the move and transition.
The main reason was because I felt like it would be an experience to go into a new program and start a winning tradition. People wanted to make it about my playing time, but that wasn’t it.
The year I had at Georgia took a toll on the coaches. They weren’t too sure about the things that were going to come to the program, but the next year they were in the National Championship. That’s all I thought about: the opportunity to play, and to build up a winning program.
TRO: Did coach Smart (Alabama defensive coordinator) or coach Tucker (Alabama defensive backs coach) let you know before they took their jobs with Georgia that they may be moving, and that there would be interest in bringing you along if they did move?
Smith: Honestly, it sounds funny, but we never even spoke about it. My relationship with coach Smart at ‘Bama was not what it could have been — it was not that strong or close. He recruited me out of high school, but once I was there a couple of things happened and went the route they did just because of him. It wasn’t like I didn’t like him or anything like that. I just didn’t understand what was going on.
Before the National Title game, we knew he was leaving, but he never spoke about it. Obviously, there were the little things: “You do what you do, and you will have success”. That kind of thing. But in terms of a conversation about me following him, that never crossed our minds.
The funny thing is, before the National Championship, once they both knew they were leaving, I kind of knew that we would end up crossing paths, but I never thought it would be in college. Georgia wasn’t even my first choice!
I was actually interested in a couple of other schools. One day my mom came up to me and was like “what would you think about going to Georgia?” And I was like “I dunno”. I wasn’t too fond of it: they hadn’t recruited me; I hadn’t been; I didn’t have a close relationship with coach Smart. I ended up speaking with coach Tucker, he had been one of my favorite defensive backs coaches. Once that happened, I thought about doing it and took a visit. After that it took off from there.
TRO: Walk us through your transfer process?
Smith: Well, to start, I remember it was after the spring game — a couple of weeks after — I had ongoing thoughts about maybe I should explore different options. That’s what I ended up doing.
I went into coach Saban’s office and told him I wanted to look into other schools. He was like “what do you mean? Transfer?” I told him no, I just wanted to look at options. He didn’t take that lightly; he didn’t know my motive. He kind of went into tank mode, in the sense that he was asking the staff “why is Mo trying to leave?”
I never told anyone I wanted to leave, just that I wanted to explore options. I forget what it’s called, but I was trying to get the release so that I could speak to schools or something like that. That’s when it went south real quick. I was kind of surprised. I didn’t know where the madness or confusion had come from, because I hadn’t asked for a transfer.
The practices went on, and next thing I know things went even more south: coach Saban is telling me I’m not able to come into the facility or workout with the team if I’m going to leave.
Once that happened, things got real ugly. It was a crazy experience.
TRO: When did you formally ask for the transfer?
Smith: It happened a couple of weeks after I asked for permission to look around. I didn’t even think it was going to get there that fast. It was like a cause and effect. Once I was kicked out of the facility, it was kind of like, this thing is getting ugly; he doesn’t even want me in the program.
It was probably a week and a half after the first conversation. I spoke to my family and then went to Coach and asked for the release.
TRO: How did you get from that point to talking about transferring within the conference?
Smith: Man, that was one of the longest processes of my life. I was going through it for a long and stressful time.
After I had asked for the transfer, it initially wasn’t Georgia, it was schools outside the conference. A week after I had formally asked for the transfer, I was talking to coach Smart and coach Tucker and that’s when I found out I wanted to go to Georgia.
I went to coach Saban and told him that I wanted to transfer within the conference. Immediately I could see he wasn’t going to go along with that. Initially, he told me I wasn’t going anywhere in the SEC. He told me he’d give me a release to go anywhere else but the SEC.
It was kind of expected because I was going with his D-Coordinator and defensive backs coach. I could kind of see where he was coming from, but at the same time I felt like, y’know, what are you nervous about?
He was still throwing bones at me, asking me why I was trying to leave and telling me I’m this and that. It wasn’t that I was trying to leave because I wasn’t playing, and that’s how he made it seem. So, I told him: “Coach, this is an opportunity for me. I’ve done everything you ask. I haven’t gotten in trouble, I’m about to graduate in three years.” I just didn’t see what the problem was.
Once me and my family decided Georgia was definitely where I wanted to go, we started to make as many moves as possible. I talked to coach Smart and the staff at UGA — the athletic director, everyone. They told me exactly what I would have to do.
My mom really withstood a lot with me. We did numerous amounts of appeals. We had to sit down and come up with reasons why I would have to leave, and then go into meetings with the board of the SEC and the board of college football appeals. We would get declined.
It was just one of those power struggles that we didn’t think we were going to win.
TRO: What was the process like with the SEC, once it was clear Alabama was trying to stop everything?
Smith: It was, from start to finish, another power struggle. Coach Saban had so much power, and he didn’t agree with the rule. Most of the time we met with the Southeastern Conference, it was a one-sided deal. It was like: “It’s your word vs. his, and your word means nothing.”
For a long period of time it felt pointless. I guess once we started to throw different things out, they started to see my side — that it wasn’t just about playing time. They saw that Georgia had an Academy that Alabama didn’t, that I’m still doing my masters in.
The last appeal we had, right before camp, around July, we didn’t think we had a chance. You could see it on the committee’s faces. But once the ruling came out, it was like “wow”, we couldn’t believe we’d won.
TRO: How big of a factor was Greg Sankey in your process?
Smith: Oh, he was huge. Obviously, he’s the head of the whole thing. For him to step up and make this a big deal shows a lot about himself.
TRO: When you initially asked coach Saban for your release, you were still working towards a degree. Were you allowed to work out and stick around the team while you were still on campus?
Smith: I hate to say it, but no. I ended up getting a text from strength coach — Scott Cochran — who I love to death. He told me he couldn’t have me at the facility. It hurt my heart. I was like: “What did I do?” All I did was ask for a release. I hadn’t done anything wrong.
It first started out that I wasn’t able to work out with the team. And I got that. Then it became “you can’t be here at all”. That was a week after he had said I couldn’t work out with the team anymore. I was like, man, that’s where I eat every day, that’s how I work out. What am I supposed to do?
All the way through this process, I was sleeping on Hootie Jones’ floor on a blow-up mattress because I had to stop paying rent. I would have to ask Hootie to bring me plates of food and stuff from the facility. And I would have to go and workout in the rec by myself.
I was just hoping something would fall into place. I started to think I might not play my last year of eligible football.
It was a tough journey, but I overcame it. Now I look back and think, wow, I really did that.
TRO: There’s a player at Alabama now who is, reportedly, looking to transfer in conference. What are your overall thoughts on the graduate transfer rule, especially when it comes to inter-conference moves?
Smith: Most people’s situations are different. But for the most part, if a young man graduates in three years, or has all the qualifications to go to another school, he should have the ability to go anywhere in the country, as long as he didn’t make too many mistakes. It boils down to how the player feels and what he thinks is best for him.
You would think people’s goals would be for young men to get their education and then play football. But I feel like we make this thing more about a football thing over academics.
If someone puts in the work, I feel like a transfer should be their pay-off.
