Kirby Smart addresses tampering issues, if there's any way to manage it
Kirby Smart spoke with Paul Finebaum this week at the Regions Tradition golf tournament, and the ESPN commentator shared the interview on Friday.
Smart addressed a wide range of issues facing college football, from name, image and likeness, to the transfer portal and tampering. Finebaum asked Smart if there’s any way to manage tampering.
“It’s part of the game,” Smart said. “I don’t believe there’s as much tampering as people think. I think there are kids who grow up thinking if it doesn’t work out here, I should go somewhere else. Tampering comes from the player that’s searching somewhere else, not from a coach reaching out.”
Smart shared that he knows it happens because players reach out to him from other programs, and he can’t talk to them.
“I don’t worry about tampering as much as I worry, are we doing the right thing for kids when they have adversity or when things are tough, to be able to walk away,” Smart said.
Smart said that if the 15 players who recently left Georgia for the NFL thought that they had a chance at another program, they would have missed out on a national championship. They would have also missed out on graduating, and getting to the NFL Draft.
“I think those things are critical to success,” he said.
So it works like this…Burton might have reached out but Saban knew he couldn’t answer (wink wink) but by sheer coincidence the Sales Manager at Dream Motorsport needed an elite WR to represent his company…got it, Kirby.
Hmmm, is this how Kirby gets his transfers. I love how it’s tampering when someone transfers into Bama but nothing to see here when they transfer into UGA. Several UGA fans on this site cried foul about Burton and said he should have honored his commitment. What about Kendricks(?) the DB thrown off his team. How about Smith from WVU, Daniels from USC or Gilbert from LSU. Oh, that’s right. Just crickets. Saban cheats but Kirby doesn’t? Everybody but my team cheats is the war cry of Unicorn U.
darth………..Kendrick was thrown off his team by Dabo. So maybe you have something a bit less stupid????
I guess when your coach is as guilty as s.I.n and you know it. And you have absolutely NOTHING to point to with Georgia. Then coming up with a goofy example and hoping people won’t catch it is all you can do. I understand!!! : )
PS. By the way….. 33-18. LOL
Negan
Who you going 3 rounds with this week Neggie?
Negan tampers in his moms panty drawer….
Not you Luvy!!!! All I’ve found are keyboard tough guys!!!! But it is what it is. I’ve figured out that WIMPS often come on boards and call people names. Because they know they are a wimp and I guess it makes them feel better.
Kinda like men who can’t get a woman to save their lives. They are always wanting to find girls to quote CYBER WITH!!!!
I guess the keyboard love must be really exciting. Especially when most are men pretending to be women LOL!!!
PS. Luvy I’ll bet you’ve done your share of online female impersonation!!! LOL
Negan
Neggie I am 6’9” 315 pounds. I am sure there is not a dress I would look good in. I have no plans on going 3 rounds with anybody. I do not believe in fair fights. I prefer winning if it has to be done. Most all fights can be avoided. That is what I practice.
THE QUEEN FEMALE DOG HAS MADE AN APPEARANCE! YOU LOOKING FOR YOUR BUTT BUDDY DOUG SO YOU CAN HAVE YOUR DAILY CIRCLE JERK?
If someone tries to start a fight I like to grab a beer bottle by the neck and break it off. They tend to think you are nuts then and back off and if not, well I have a busted beer bottle in my hand lol
“Hmmm, is this how Kirby gets his transfers.”
I have little doubt that just like Nick, Kirby has to be on constant lookout for overzealous boosters and his staff crossing the line, luvda.
Apologies, meant darth.^
Georgia should be all excited over finally winning a NC. 41 years is a mighty long time. So I will never hold it against any Georgia Dan for being all Giddy after 41 years. As you know at Alabama we have never waited 41 years for a NC. So we can’t identify with the angst, frustration and shear pain waiting 41 years dies to a fan. Congratulations Georgia.
Nah, no angst, frustration, or anything close to resembling pain. Its just fun to point and laugh at the Roll Cried fans that play the “but, but, but” game, and the Florida fans that play the “remember way back when we won a game” game. Also, Negan’s stalker gives me a few chuckles too. Arkansas_vol is hung up on ol’ Negan.
Never had a World series champion of the college or pro variety either. We had both to fill the gap plus an Olympics, a super bowl and as pointed out, the Masters every year
You have AA baseball, the USFL and Auburn for those down years lol. Talladega is a.wash as we have 9ne.of those too and frankly, nobody has cared anyway since the mid 90s.
Outside of college football, you have asant championships and major events as Kabul lol
No one is going to believe that Georgia fans have not suffered angst and frustration over the past 41 years. The other thing you folks mentioned are fine. But this is a college football post. What I posted is true. Some of you used other events and sports to reply to a specific football post. But that is ok.
I mean yeah…if it wasn’t a college football post why would Bama fans be on it.
Negan plays rock, paper, scissors with himself and still loses….
Shut up stalker!!!!!!! Go fall in love with somebody else!!!!
Joe Biden is probably available. If not Hunter B is a real catch. We know he gets online LOL!!!
PS. You aren’t Hunter Biden are you???? LOL
Negan
HEY FEMALE DOG, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME KNOW WHEN WE ARE GOING TO MEET? IF YOU’RE SCARED JUST SAY IT PUSS!
Neggie. tidefan4life done called you out. All that 3 round stuff was just hot air? Or are you a bad mo fo Neggie? Looks like you have to put up or tuck tail and run away.
MESSAGE TO ARKANSAS_VOL…..
Shut up stalker!!!!!!! Go fall in love with somebody else!!!!
Joe Biden is probably available. If not Hunter B is a real catch. We know he gets online LOL!!!
PS. You aren’t Hunter Biden are you???? LOL
Negan
I bet you wear socks in the shower
1998
^^^ 2021 hotdog swallowing champion
Maybe the Vols could actually win that one!
I support you folks enjoying the Ga NC. 41 years is a long time. Lots of trapped feelings and frustration have to be released. I support the Ga fans doing this. At Alabama we have no idea what 41 years must feel like. We have never been subjected to 41 years of disappointment and frustration. Alabama fans have truly been spoiled by the Dynasty Saban has built.
2 World Series, the Olympics and a Super Bowl hosted there as well as a college world series title filled the gap nicely. If Bama falters, you’ve got that USFL thing though lol
@ kirk
Not to mention the Masters every year!
Very true. The 1998 Masters where Tiger put on a clinic is one 9f the greatest golf performances ever.
But I hear the USFL is fun too and of course I as big a fan of AA baseball as anyone.
Kirk. We are talking college football right here. 41 years to get a NC. You Georgia fans should be all giddy and slobbering on each other. You folks earned it. Enjoy. Alabama has had two football dynasties. Georgia zero. 41 years is a very very long time. Enjoy.
Looks like you are pushing Neggie’s buttons.
Excellent priority.
Focus the organization on helping players become the best men they can be and to achieve their aspirations. Do that well and you won’t need to worry much about arcane NCAA rules to force players to stay.
UGA’s DB that transferred to Miami after the 2020 season is probably one of the more seemingly egregious examples of tampering I’ve heard of.
Wasn’t he a Miami native?
Show us your proof??
I don’t have “proof” just circumstantial observations… you know, like everyone else without subpoena power. Not surprised if that distinction is lost on you. You are free to look into it on your own and come to your own conclusions.
I would guess there is cheating at every school. Especially if you include the wealthy boosters.
Then you got nothing.
When the Miami Herald posts an article declaring the intent to get a player to transfer to Miami, and then a few days later the player enters the portal and transfers to Miami, that’s not exactly “nothing”
I agree with your first comment
Well I don’t have the guys birth certificate
“UGA’s DB that transferred to Miami after the 2020 season is probably one of the more seemingly egregious examples of tampering I’ve heard of.”
Well of course that’s the case. It’s a player transferring away from UGA and you’re a UGA fan…
Players transferring in though… Nothing to see there.
So you don’t know the specific details of the situation I’m referring to, yet that’s not stopping you from forming judgements and opinions? Excellent job, BT.
My guess is that most all transfers are not tampered with, but there are some instances where it appears as if it probably did happen. But of course if I voice my opinion about one UGA player transferring out, then I must surely be biased and think all outgoing UGA transfers are questionable and also that UGA never tampers with in-coming transfers, right? Why bother with nuance when you can paint with nice, broad strokes?
So what are the specifics you speak of? Stevenson is from Miami.. Why is it “seemingly egregious”?
It’s not like he went across the county to somewhere he has never been.. He actually went home.
Let’s look at it objectively. He entered the portal officially on Jan. 11 2021 and announces transfer to Miami on Jan 19th. Jan 6th Manny Diaz as OFFCIALLY fired as HC at Miami. Cristobal was announced as the new HC on Dec. 7th after a financial tug-of-war with Phil Knight. In order to tamper, you have to get to the player prior to the portal entry. So, I have to believe between Cristobal accepting the job and Jan 11th, Cristobal (someone acting on his behalf, not Diaz) initiated contact with this player in a four day pan while Cristobal balanced Miami’s early signing day, the media requests a new coach gets, a multitude of staffing decisions, traveling cross country, etc. I’m sorry, I’m not buying it.
My bad, it was December, not January. So, it was a 34 day span. I still don’t think in the grand scheme of things Cristobal would use 34 days to tamper with someone.
I understand your take VT, logically speaking, a lot had to happen in a short time. The smoking gun remains the Miami Herald article indicating Stevenson was going to the U prior to his TP entry…
“The smoking gun remains the Miami Herald article indicating Stevenson was going to the U prior to his TP entry…”
Exactly. That’s what makes this situation egregious. Boosters can and do act independent of the football program, so charting out the chronology of the start of Cristobal’s tenure doesn’t demonstrate much.
“The Miami Hurricanes are poised to land another potential star via the transfer portal.
Tyrique Stevenson has entered his name into the portal and plans to transfer to Miami, a source close to Stevenson told the Miami Herald. Stevenson, who played the past two seasons for the Georgia Bulldogs, was not able to communicate with Hurricanes coaches before entering his name into the portal, but he’s now expected to tell coaches he plans to transfer back home to Miami, barring a last-minute change of heart.”
So that comment above from the Miami Herald is your smoking gun? LMAO
So you did a quick google search, found a random article, copied the closest quote you could find, and then just assumed you found the article and quote in question and had settled this debate?
No, that’s neither the article nor the quote I was referring to. Once again, excellent job BT.
There’s an article dated 1/4/2021 wherein an unnamed source within the Miami program stated that Stevenson was a player they wanted to take from UGA. This was a week before he entered the portal. And a few days after entering the portal, he transfered to Miami. No one will ever know the truth, but seeing that Miami recruited him out of HS they almost assuredly still had backdoor channels of communication with him while he was at UGA. The optics of this look very bad.
And VT, Diaz was hired as Miami HC in Jan 2019, so it was his staff that potentially tampered with Stevenson, not Cristobal’s. And he was at Miami for a year prior to Stevenson’s transfer, so there would have been plenty of time.
“unnamed source within the Miami”
LMAO.. Those are the best. Nothing more legit than that.
I know… Maybe the Paper wanted him to go to Miami so they made it all up?
LMAO…
Nothing like picking a random (but wrong) headline out, cut and pasting said wrong storyline out of said wrong article, making a foolish statement based on said wrong article…then lmao doubling down when confronted with the correct article. Such are the days of our lives…
I addressed the article Boxster was talking about.. An unnamed source is nobody. It could have been nothing more than the paper throwing that out to get views hoping it sticks.
You and Boxster don’t know anything more about why he transferred than I do… You read an article and made an assumption.
Opinions are subjective, assumptions are objective. Didn’t Boxster already explain that above?
And yet I can still discuss it with boxster… Thanks for your input. Have a good day.
Touche…
You too
@Boxter Diaz got canned on Dec. 6th. It was the worst kept secret in college football for the two weeks prior as it was openly reported Cristobal was being approached. That’s not to say it’s impossible Diaz’s staff tampered prior to Thanksgiving. In mid-Oct., when they lost to UNC and were sitting at 2 – 4 I can almost assure you that whole staff was updating their resumes. I believe had Miami not won the next two games against ranked opponents NC state and Pitt; Diaz was gone then. It’s a small window for Diaz’s lame duck staff to be thinking of salvaging their jobs and recruiting transfers. It’s just so unlikely
That is correct boxster, his choice did not come as a shock. Miami was rumored to be the landing spot for a Stevenson transfer before he even entered the portal, according to an article published by the Miami Herald…Tyrique had been spotted driving a really nice ride recently along Collins in South Beach, a Bentley I believe it was reported, but no confirmation if it was his or not…
A Negan Whopper on the Arkansas page. Negan got Pittman hired at Arkansas. According to Negan.
I used to root for Arkansas even before Sam Pittman. I also love Pittman. I did a bunch of lobbying for Sam Pittman to be hired at Arkansas. Because I knew someone was going to hire him and Arkansas is his dream school.
Pittman always loved Arkansas. He always wanted to return. Trust me. Y’all were about to make a TERRIBLE HIRE and I absolutely did some things to make them remember Pittman!!!! That’s the TRUTH!!!!
PS. So far it appears I was right!!!!!
Negan
Nobody reads Negan’s posts… I highly doubt anyone reads a Negan post you’re copying and pasting across multiple articles.
It is free entertainment. You don’t have to participate.
I don’t… You’re the one looking like the dumb@$& posting it across multiple articles…
The portal, NIL cut both ways. Helps and hurts your team, at points. Alums and others are apt to give recruits sweet deals, hotel rooms, women, entertainment and of course some “$100 dollar handshakes” to get them to stay-or come back. Gives kids more flexibility, options.
I would have paid to see Kirby pat Paul on the head ala Benny Hill back in the day.
That’s funny…true dat^