Editorial: Kirby Smart Stops Georgia RB AJ Turman from Transferring to Florida or Miami
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
The rubber has connected with the road in a couple of ways for new Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. The former Alabama defensive coordinator officially kicked off his on the field coaching duties this week when the Bulldogs started spring practices taking his hiring from coaching theory to hands on preparation. Another thing Smart did during his first week of molding the lives of young men was prevent one of them from transferring to the school of his choice leaving the rest of us to wonder why.
The NCAA allows the practice of stopping players from transferring to any school they wish left to be partly determined by the head coach of their current program. Said head coach can dictate the terms and the list of terms can be long or short. For running back A.J. Turman, his list was narrowed down to two schools he could not transfer to upon leaving Athens – the Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes.
Coaches and fans siding with Smart will cite an element of control over a program’s roster letting other kids on the fence about leaving said program that the college of their choice may not be made available for them if a release is granted. This in theory will deter the disenfranchised to gut it out and keep trying/fighting for playing time whether they like the current staff or not.
Whatever Turman’s reasons are for transferring, not allowing him to play for two of his home state schools seems cheap and petty.
Smart turned in a Top 10 2016 recruiting class in his first time around, thanks in large part to his predecessor Mark Richt, which included another highly prized running back Elijah Holyfield (Woodward Academy). In the 2013 recruiting class, Turman was one of 16 recruits considered a 4-star prospect to sign with the Bulldogs. The former Boone High School star redshirted in his first season in Athens and has been buried on the depth chart behind Todd Gurley, J.J. Green, Brendan Douglas, Keith Marshall, Sony Michel, and Nick Chubb, to name a few, ever since.
Now entering what would be his fourth year with Georgia, his junior season in NCAA eligibility terms, the Orlando area native is seemingly looking for playing time in hopes of attracting enough attention to play at the next level to follow his dream. Smart has granted Turman his release with the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes conditions keeping him from joining Georgia’s SEC East rival or his former head coach, Mark Richt in south Florida.
In an interview with DawgNation, Turman spoke about Smart releasing him stating, “I guess that’s just how he does that, and I understand that. He has to put his foot down coming to a new school because he doesn’t want everyone trying to get a release. So we’re just not used to it like the kids that didn’t get recruited by him because we always were told if we don’t feel at home at the University of Georgia we could leave and I thought it was still like that. Then Coach Kirby … I understand, and I’m glad that I guess I got my release.”
Smart was within his given right by the NCAA to restrict Turman from going to Florida or Miami but why would he? He can use another player as an example but why use a kid that has not seen the field in three years at Georgia and more than likely would not if he stayed the two years he has left?
A silver lining to Smart’s actions, limiting Turman from Florida or Miami might actually be of benefit forcing him to go to a program that may be in need of a player of his caliber leading to more immediate playing time. Any team could use a former 4-star recruit. Florida, who has struggled to put points on the board in recent seasons, and Miami, a team making the switch from Al Golden to Mark Richt that will more than likely have some growing pains, would be happy to have him. But playing for any of the other teams to offer him out of high school like Central Florida, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State, Connecticut, Boston College, Florida Atlantic, or Marshall might be a better landing spot for his career.
The transfer rule and the powers given to any head coach determining transfer landing spots can serve a good purpose as a teaching tool and a life lesson for the young men involved and should be passed along to the hopefuls coming up through the high school ranks year after year – life and football will not always turn out the way you want it to thus you have to keep fighting. From the outside looking in, seems that applying said rule to players the programs value by giving playing time would be a better use of power. For players going to practice every day, keeping their grades and attitude up, but wasting college eligibility, let the players go where they want even if their choice may not be what is truly best for them – another life lesson to learn.
Photo credit: timesfreepress.com; No. 35 AJ Turman scores a G-Game touchdown.