College Football HQ

College football coach says 'Alabama stole our kicker'

Miami (OH) football coach went off on Alabama, accusing the Crimson Tide of illegally recruiting place kicker Graham Nicholson.

James Parks

'Alabama stole our kicker' says a college football coach making a serious recruiting allegation.
'Alabama stole our kicker' says a college football coach making a serious recruiting allegation. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

College football coaches don't often speak up about the new hectic atmosphere around player movement, but Miami of Ohio coach Chuck Martin is making a big exception to that rule, and going on the offense with an explosive claim about Alabama allegedly "stealing" one of his players.

"We didn't lose him. He's at Alabama," Martin said when asked about losing place kicker Graham Nicholson this offseason.

"We know exactly where he's at. 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. That's college football," he added.

"We live in this la la world like, 'Hey, let's not talk about it.' We know what's going on. Alabama stole our kicker."

Losing, or having Alabama steal, their kicker could prove costly for the RedHawks. Nicholson became the first MAC player to win the Lou Groza Award after kicking 27 field goals last season.

Also the top scorer in the MAC, he owns an 84.5 percent career field goal mark. Both those numbers are records for the Miami program.

Alabama had to replace outgoing kicker Will Reichard, who left as one of the top specialists in that program's history, and his replacement was one of 15 transfers the Crimson Tide added in 2024.

In response, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer denied stealing any player.

"I don't know anything about that, I guess that comment," he said.

"He [Nicholson] entered the portal and we reached out to him. So that's how it goes, right?"

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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