Surly Saban rips idea of in-conference graduate transfers

Despite being fully entrenched in the offseason and without a game to worry about for four months, Nick Saban is still a surly man.

The Alabama coach spoke with the media Tuesday during SEC spring meetings, with one of the main topics focusing on graduate transfers.

Saban and Alabama took heat last season for blocking Maurice Smith from heading to Georgia as a graduate transfer, even though the legendary coach was simply following the conference rules. Smith was eventually allowed to transfer after the SEC granted a waiver, but it left a sour taste in Saban's mouth.

"I've never been (in) favor of free agency in our league, I don't think that's a good thing," Saban said, as per Barrett Sallee of SiriusXM. "Why should guys leave your team and go play for someone else and then you have to play against them? I don't think that's fair. I think we would benefit as much as anybody in our league if you said we could transfer. Kentucky's got a good player? Let's go see if we can get him to come to Alabama. Why do we want that? Why do we need that? How does that help the integrity of what we are trying to do as a conference?"

While it's easy to see why Saban wouldn't want a player leaving Alabama to play against him, coaches are granted that courtesy, which long-time Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart took advantage of to become the head coach at Georgia prior to last season.

As Saban said, Alabama would likely benefit as much as any school in the conference should the rule be relaxed permanently to allow player movement. The Crimson Tide are clearly the best team in the SEC, and would be a desired landing spot for any graduate transfer who could study at the school.

That idea does make it somewhat puzzling why Saban would be so opposed to the idea, but there's nothing puzzling about his surly demeanor during the press conference. That scene has become all too familiar to those who cover Alabama on a regular basis.