Nick Saban wasn’t very subtle recently when discussing the tight ends on his spring roster in Tuscaloosa. In fact, the Crimson Tide coach openly admitted his program would add someone if the opportunity to do so presents itself.

With Irv Smith Jr. off to the NFL, Alabama is currently searching for a tight end to step up this offseason in Tuscaloosa. Miller Forristall and Major Tennison appeared to be the two primary candidates to do so heading into spring football and linebacker Cameron Latu has also been given some looks at the position during Alabama’s spring camp.

During a recent appearance on Birmingham-based WJOX 94.5 FM radio show “The Roundtable,” Saban was asked about his tight ends as Alabama is set to conclude spring football on Saturday with the annual A-Day Game. Interestingly enough, Saban was very open to the fact that his program could add a tight end at some point this offseason.

“I think that’s one of the question marks because we have a group that hasn’t played much. They have developed nicely in the spring,” Saban said on the air. “I think Cam Latu is showing some potential that he has to play the position. We have some other young players that have to show their dependability and they could be helpful but this is an area of our team where if there was an opportunity to add someone to our team, this would be the first place we would want to do it.”

While Saban didn’t specifically say transfer or graduate transfer in his response, that’s clearly what he was referring to when he mentioned adding a player to his program. It’s unclear who Saban could have been referencing there but there are a few tight end options currently in the NCAA’s transfer portal.

Naseir Upshur of Florida State, Jimmy Jaggers of UCLA, Tyrone Wheatley Jr of Michigan, Kyle Penniston of Wisconsin and Zach Sheffer of LSU could be names to watch for Alabama fans in the coming weeks exiting the spring. You never know but there could also be a star tight end set to graduate in the coming weeks that learns about Saban’s comments and decides to enter the portal.

That was the fear some coaches had when the graduate transfer rule was put into place but Alabama wouldn’t be breaking any rules by luring an all-conference level player to campus as long as they graduate from their previous institution. Either way, Saban put this information out there for players to be aware both around the country and on his roster as potential motivation this summer heading into fall camp.