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The Alabama Crimson Tide landed a huge boost on special teams this offseason with the signing of Miami (OH) kicker Graham Nicholson. The former RedHawk was the winner of last year’s Lou Groza Award, becoming the first player in MAC history to earn the honor.
Nicholson connected on 27-of-28 field goals with a long of 52 yards. He also handled kickoff and PAT duties.
Following his incredible junior season, he hit the transfer portal in hopes of capitalizing on his production. He wanted to play Power Five ball after spending three seasons at the G5 level!
Nicholson landed that opportunity and more when offered by Alabama.
The kicker left Miami (OH) for Tuscaloosa this April, but his old head coach says he already knew where he was going before entering the portal!
Chuck Martin says Alabama tampered with Graham Nicholson.
The special teamer’s offseason was an interesting one, for sure. In fact, he initially entered the transfer portal in December of 2023 ahead of Miami’s bowl game against Appalachian State.
He later withdrew his name from transfer consideration in February before re-entering the portal in April, according to 247 Sports.
The second time was the charm for Nicholson, but RedHawk head coach Chuck Martin believes there was a reason for that re-entry. He claims Alabama contacted him illegally in order to lure him to T-Town.
Impossible not to love @Martin_Miami_HC. Alabama stole our kicker! Let’s call it what it is! pic.twitter.com/kd64PMXPwk
— Jed DeMuesy (@JedDeMuesy) August 22, 2024
Shots fired!
It’s a strong accusation from the Miami (OH) head coach, though he appeared rather confident in his claim.
He was fired up!
We’ve seen coaches punished of late for tampering, most notably Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, who will miss the Hawkeyes’ opener in 2024. We’ll see if anything comes out of this situation as Kalen DeBoer gets set to start Year 1.