RELATED: A.J. Turman granted release from UGA
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has come under some criticism in recent weeks, all going back to the transfer of running back A.J. Turman. Turman — a junior who has yet to see the field for the Bulldogs — was restricted from transferring to Miami, Georgia Tech, and all other SEC schools.
The criticism came because former head coach Mark Richt did not place transfer restrictions on his players. Also, because Turman had never seen a snap and was buried on the depth chart, many saw the restrictions as excessive for a player that Georgia clearly wasn't using.
Well, Smart fired back at that criticism on Friday, telling ESPN that his restrictions are not different from the ones that almost every other SEC school employs for their players.
"My goal is to get the same policy as [the SEC] and be uniformed," Smart said to ESPN. "There was never an intent to hurt [Turman]. I was only doing what I felt like was the best for the University of Georgia and was also competitively equivalent among the SEC schools."
The transfer policy prohibiting other SEC schools is fine for most cases. At the very least, it makes sense that Smart wouldn't want any of his players going to his competitor. This also makes sense for Georgia Tech, an annual opponent for the Bulldogs.
However, Smart's restrictions to Miami also drew the ire of some across college football. Turman — a Florida native — will likely be transferring closer to his home, and Smart knocking the Canes off the potential transfer list really rubbed some people the wrong way. However, Smart did have an answer for why he doesn't want the Hurricanes, the current home of Mark Richt, to become a destination for potential transfers.
"I wanted to set the precedent for the future that kids would not be able to go to Miami right away," Smart said. "It's very important that we understand that, and that's pretty much standard operating procedure when a coach leaves one place, that a kid can't go there with the coach."
From Smart's perspective, this all makes perfect sense. He is the Georgia head coach, and he is doing the best he can to protect the school and his position. From the players' perspective, though, it is really unfortunate, as it is a huge rule change from what they were used to under Richt.
Turman, a former four-star recruit, has yet to announce to which school he will transfer.
