'Alabama stole our kicker': Miami (Ohio) head coach mocks media for not living in 'reality' when it comes to transfer portal

Miami University (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin made a point-blank statement that the University of Alabama illegally recruited their kicker Graham Nicholson.

In an interview posted to the official Miami (Ohio) Redhawks website, coach Martin made direct claims that the Alabama Crimson Tide program "stole" their kicker.

'You media people, it's all pretend.'

"All right, special teams, you lost your kicker," a reporter prefaced.

"We didn't lose him, he's at Alabama," Martin interrupted. "We know exactly where he's at."

Martin then accused the media of playing "pretend" when it comes to the reality of the NCAA transfer portal.

"You media people, it's all pretend. No, Alabama stole our kicker, they illegally recruited our kicker and stole him from us. That's a fact, but that's college football," he continued.

"We live in this La-La-World, let's not talk reality. I don't know why, every coach knows what's going on. Yeah, Alabama stole our kicker, a couple of other schools tried to steal him," Martin added.

Alabama Head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to media after a practice and was asked by a reporter about Coach Martin's claims.

"The Miami of Ohio coach accused you guys of tampering with the recruitment of Graham Nicholson. Do you have a response to that?" the reporter asked.

"I don't know anything about that, I guess that comment," DeBoer replied. "Yeah, I mean he (Nicholson) entered the portal and we reached out to him. So, that's how it goes, right? We did everything you're supposed to," he claimed.

While it has not been specified exactly what the potentially illegal recruitment acts might have been, it has been speculated that since this was Nicholson's second time in the transfer portal, his deal with Alabama may have been predetermined.

Barstool Sports' Connor Knapp suggested that since Nicholson entered the transfer portal in December 2023 and then again in April 2024, it was likely that his move to Alabama was already decided by the kicker before the transfer window.

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