Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin didn’t mince words this week while commenting on the state of tampering in college football’s transfer portal.
In a preseason video posted by Miami’s athletic department on Wednesday, Martin was asked about having to replace former placekicker Graham Nicholson this season. Nicholson became the first Mid-American Conference player to win the Lou Groza Award, presented annually to the best kicker in college football, after he converted 27 of 28 field goals and 35 of 37 extra points for the RedHawks in 2023. Nicholson transferred to Alabama in April.
“We didn’t lose him. He’s at Alabama. We know exactly where he’s at,” Martin said of Nicholson. “Alabama stole our kicker. They illegally recruited our kicker and stole him from us. That’s a fact, but that’s college football. Everybody knows what’s going on. Yeah, Alabama stole our kicker.”
Martin, a former Notre Dame assistant entering his eleventh season as head coach at Miami, has a reputation as a candid and outspoken coach. He has also had plenty experience losing good players via the portal. A dozen Miami players have transferred to power-conference programs over the past four seasons, including four this offseason on the heels of an 11-3 season and MAC championship.
“It’s happened pretty much since the portal opened,” Martin told The Athletic in an interview earlier this offseason. “Part of Power 5 recruiting departments are watching our players every week. They’re not even afraid to talk about it. That’s their job. It’s just like the NFL. My guys are their free agents. And now with NIL, they can pay them.”
Martin told The Athletic he has had his players tampered with in all different manners — everything from opposing coaches and staffers reaching out through a player’s high school coach to more brazen efforts.
“Coming back from a bowl game and having coaches waiting outside our player’s house,” said Martin, declining to name the specific player.
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Martin has managed to sustain success at Miami despite his best players getting poached, leading the program to five bowl games. The RedHawks are one of the favorites in the MAC again this season, even after losing some key transfers from last year’s roster, including Nicholson to Alabama, running back Rashad Amos to Ole Miss, wide receiver Gage Larvadain to South Carolina and defensive lineman Caiden Woullard to Oklahoma.
The head coach, blunt as he is about the reality of the situation, has also accepted the situation as the state of play in college football, and even considers it a badge of honor in some ways.
“Listen, if you’re not losing good players at this level, you probably don’t have a good team,” Martin said. “If they come after 15 of my guys, I probably just had a pretty good year. Last year, they came after about 15 of my guys and we won the MAC. There’s a reason. We had good players.”
Miami opens the season with three high-profile nonconference games: on the road at Northwestern, hosting rival Cincinnati, whom the RedHawks upset last season, and back on the road at Notre Dame.
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(Photo: Sam Navarro / USA Today)
