Alabama HC responds to accusation that team 'stole' kicker from MAC school

"I don’t know anything about that, I guess, that comment," DeBoer said. "(Nicholson) entered the portal, and we reached out to him. So that’s how it goes, right? We did everything that we were supposed to."

Martin's accusations were originally made on Wednesday during an interview with MiamiRedHawks.com when he shared his thoughts on how his team's former kicker landed in the SEC with Alabama for the 2024 season.

"We didn’t lose (Nicholson), he’s at Alabama," Martin said. "We know exactly where he’s at. Again, you media people, it’s all pretend. Like, no, Alabama stole our kicker. They illegally recruited our kicker and stole him from us, and that’s a fact."

After winning the Lou Groza award last season as the top kicker in college football, Nicholson entered the transfer portal this past April, and just a few days later, he announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide on his X account.

In 14 games with the RedHawks last season, Nicholson converted 27 of his 28 field-goal attempts, and his 96.4 field-goal percentage ranked first among FBS kickers with at least 20 field-goal tries in 2023.

Interestingly enough, he beat out former Alabama kicker Will Reichard for the Lou Groza Award last season. Now, Nicholson is hoping to follow in Reichard's footsteps and become one of the Crimson Tide's best kickers in school history.