re: Maurice Smith transferring

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I don't agree with him getting a release at all. I don't blame the university for passing the buck to the SEC. If the SEC allows this, it's basically free agency in conference.

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The SEC office were cowards and should have stepped in before this got to this point. I blame the SEC.

Cecil Hurt had an article on this that I totally agree with.....

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If the league simply approves every transfer, after all, what's the point of the rule? How would you ever enforce against the next player, or the one after that, or any athlete in any sport?

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Until now, the league office has been silent and let Saban take the brunt of some ferocious criticism. Maybe that's statesmanlike on the league's part, staying above the fray even while member schools tear into each other like hungry hyenas. Maybe it's simply wanting someone else to seem like the bad guy. Saban is a great candidate to keep a narrative simple, rather than look at a complex issue.

But maybe it's time to hear from the SEC. That's certainly what Saban seemed to be driving at on Sunday in his vastly-overlooked "Alabama doesn't run the SEC" statement at his press conference, a commentary that was overlooked in the media's haste to ask Lane Kiffin about his Twitter account.

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Saban's point, it appeared, was that he's done what he's going to do in this case and he's not going to be the one to open the door to unlimited free transfers. But if the SEC wants to step up and unleash that chaos themselves, that's up to them. I suspect that if the SEC took the lead and gave Smith a waiver, there's a decent chance that Saban would relent, release Smith and wait on his chance to poach someone else's roster next spring.

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I hope the SEC in their research of the situation says to Kirby and Mel Tucker.. oh, I need all your emails, texts and phone records from November til today before we make a decision.

Always liked Kirby and understand he's looking out for his and Ga's interests, but if they tampered with a kid already on scholarship and recruited while on scholarship.. they're gonna be mud in a lot of peoples' eyes.

Wouldn't that be an SEC problem? We are just following their bylaws.

This.....I don't believe for a second UGA didn't try and recruit or have impermissible contact with our player

Hear Maurice got approved. Anyone else hearing this?

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Former Alabama defensive back Maurice Smith has received a conditional waiver to SEC rules that will permit Smith to transfer to Georgia to pursue a graduate degree while having the option to complete his final year of athletic eligibility in either 2016 or 2017, with provisions dependent on the achievement of Smith’s stated academic objectives should he play in 2016, the SEC announced Friday.

“Graduate transfer rules were established with the intent to be grounded in the academic interests of the student-athlete,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a release. “This conditional waiver permits Maurice Smith to receive financial aid to pursue his stated academic goals at the school of his choice while connecting his athletic participation directly to those goals.”

Georgia requested the SEC make an exception to two SEC bylaws for Smith, one that requires incoming transfers to have at least two years of eligibility remaining and the second that requires student-athletes that transfer from one SEC institution to another SEC institution to sit out a full academic year prior to competing.

“The standard for granting waivers has been clear and compelling evidence that there is reason for allowing an exception to SEC rules,” Sankey said. “I found, among other contributing factors, that a student-athlete who graduates in three years and exhibits a strong commitment to his or her academic future provides compelling motivation to help them achieve their goals on and off the field.

”An institution has an obligation to provide opportunities for graduate student-athletes to earn a graduate degree. Similarly, student-athletes have accountability to the universities that are providing the educational opportunities they enjoy. Maurice has clearly and passionately stated his desire for a graduate degree in Public Health. The conditions of the waiver allow him to achieve that goal and provide the institution with greater incentive to make his educational interests a priority.”

The waiver grants Smith a graduate-student exemption to SEC Bylaw 14.1.15 (Two-Year Eligibility) which requires a student-athlete to have at least two years of eligibility remaining to be eligible to receive financial aid, practice and compete. Based on the waiver, Smith will be allowed to receive financial aid and practice with the Georgia team immediately. Smith is required to enroll in his stated degree program, the Master of Public Health graduate program, as a full-time student and must earn all possible Academic Progress Rate (APR) points for each term of his enrollment. If the APR points are not earned, the university may not utilize the graduate-student exemption in football until after the 2019-20 academic year.

The waiver also grants provisional relief to SEC Bylaw 14.5.5.1 (Transferring within the Southeastern Conference) which governs intra-conference transfers. The bylaw requires a student-athlete to spend one full academic year in residence at the institution to which he/she is transferring. The conditions of the waiver state that Smith may play in 2017 as outlined by the bylaw, or he may play in 2016 contingent on completing at least nine credits of graduate level coursework in his degree program during the fall 2016 semester, and ultimately achieving his stated goal of earning a graduate degree in Public Health.

Should Smith play in 2016 and fail to complete nine hours of coursework, he will not be eligible for post-season competition. Should he fail to graduate prior to the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year, Georgia would be precluded from requesting a waiver of either the two-year eligibility requirement or the intra-conference transfer rule for a graduate transfer in football until the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year (three years) or Smith’s graduation from the graduate program, whichever comes first.

“Our SEC institutions adopted the intra-conference transfer rule in 2000 due to concerns that the transfer of current student-athletes within the conference would be viewed as unhealthy for student-athletes, the institutions and the conference alike, so this waiver is not granted lightly,” Sankey said. “The University of Alabama vigorously defended this SEC rule for good reason and has assisted this process in every way. The current rule places our coaches and administrators in untenable situations so it is time for us to address graduate transfer rules. An individual university does not possess the authority to activate that change, so adherence to these rules and the process by which exceptions are sought remain critical for every institution in the SEC.”

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Am I wrong for wishing that they start him at 1st string corner and opposing WRs get over 100 yards receiving on him every game

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Am I wrong for wishing that they start him at 1st string corner and opposing WRs get over 100 yards receiving on him every game

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I'm not going to comment on Mo, but if his mom somehow has a minor inconvenience like getting locked out of her car I wouldn't be upset.

So, I hope that these replies aren't met with a tad bit of turned grape taste to them, but looking objectively what kind of player are we getting here?

I"ll be honest, I don't know anything about MS other than his scarce statistics at bama and his rating out of high school. I know he didnt' play a crap ton for yall, but of course UGA doesn't have near the depth chart yall do either so I imagine he'll get more reps here.

So back to the question...what can we expect? What is he good at, and where is he subpar?

He's basically another Rico McGraw honestly. He's pretty good in run support, not afraid to hit you. Not great in pass coverage. His best fit is the Star position, basically not good enough to play the outside and not big enough to play safety.