When Petey Smith committed to Alabama in 2009, it was the culmination of one dream: to be Crimson Tide football player. When he announced this week he was leaving, it was because he couldn't fulfill the other dream: to become a starter and star on the team.
Petey Smith is a great linebacker, make no mistake about it, but being on a team with fantastic linemen makes it hard to ever see the field.
And there was the problem. As much as he loved Alabama, he wanted to play, to demonstrate his abilities to people in the stands and prove that he had what it takes at this level. However, seeing the talent ahead of him on the depth chart and the superstars of the future, like Trey DePriest getting ready to jump him as well, Smith decided to leave.
But not with any hard feelings toward his school and team mates, just a frustration that he feels he never got to show his full potential.
He is just one of four Alabama football players who decided to take their talents to other teams.
Corey Grant a running back decided to leave after seeing his likely position on the depth chart, not just for this season, but for the next as well. Like Smith, Grant will see lots of playing time elsewhere, but not here at Alabama. The same can be said of Demetrius Goode, another running back who left earlier this season.
Simply put, everyone can't be happy when you have a team full of stars like Alabama.
The question is, are these transfers hurting the Alabama football program or their reputation?
It depends on who you ask.
To Alabama fans, they wish the transfers no ill will and understand the frustration of not getting more playing time or for finding themselves buried in the depth chart. They see it as a player who simply can't tolerate the bench and is doing what's best for himself.
To detractors, it's an opportunity to point to Saban and cast him as a Machiavellian coach who simply casts aside those players who can't make the grade and denies them the chance to stay on the team.
So where is the truth?
Simply put, not everyone can be first or second string. Not everyone gets playing time they want and some people can tolerate that and some can't.
I've heard that some players didn't think they got a fair shake at Alabama, that they didn't get a chance to show they were worthy of playing time but few, even the detractors that want to point to Saban could say with a straight face that they deserved to be a starter.
Few if any, transferred from Alabama and became a big fish, even in the much smaller pond they transferred too. If you can think of some, please let me know who they are.
Each linebacker ahead of Petey Smith was rated by every rating service as being better than Petey. So while Petey may have thought he was not given a fair shot at a starting job or second string, it is also glaringly apparent that no one in the media felt that he deserved it.
Was Smith asked to leave the program? No, absolutely not. He is valuable because he is good. He could help in practices to prepare the starters and second team members by giving them a good opponent to practice against.
That simply wasn't how Petey Smith chose to spend his time in college and he left to seek a team that he could fight for playing time and win.
I've known several college players who came in with big dreams, he was a big dog on their high school team and thought the same thing would happen once they hit the sod at Bryant Denny Stadium. Then they saw what big dogs really were once they went through a year of this program. Still, they wanted to stay and be a part of the team and they finished their whole career with maybe a few special team plays or some garbage time at homecoming or senior day.
And they were happy to have finished their career wearing Crimson, even if it was mostly on the bench. They knew they still made contributions to the team in practice and the friends and great times they had were no less rewarding to them than the greatest stars who played.
When you're on top like Alabama, it's easy to be a target when people transfer away, but the truth is they have no more transfers than any other team, less in fact than most.
To answer the question do the transfers hurt, with the public perception that Saban is simply "making room" for others he wants more, or 'culling the bad wood', then yes, because the majority of the people will believe what they want to believe.
But for future recruits, no. Recruits all have friends who have been recruited by Saban before and know that Saban never makes promises about playing time. He will only say that you'll be given the opportunity to earn that playing time.
Like any facet of life in any job or occupation, some make it, some don't.
Recruits are smart enough to know that. It's a shame the public isn't that smart.
Reese Witherspoon Jordana Brewster Laetitia Casta Claudette Ortiz Julia Stiles
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