There’s a chance Auburn could land a graduate transfer offensive lineman from Alabama, as Brandon Kennedy recently announced he would be leaving the Crimson Tide and taking advantage of the relatively new NCAA rule that would allow him to play immediately in 2018 after earning his undergraduate degree.
The addition could be big for the Tigers, as four starting offensive linemen were lost this offseason and the Tigers have already welcomed a graduate transfer offensive lineman from UMass (Jack Driscoll) to help fill the void.
However, there is one problem. Alabama is reportedly blocking Kennedy from seeking a potential transfer to Auburn or Tennessee. Kennedy is in the process of appealing Alabama’s attempt to keep him from either of the Tide’s conference foes.
During his appearance at the Regions Tradition pro-am in Birmingham, Gus Malzahn was asked about his stance on blocking potential graduate transfers.
“Yeah, the grad transfer, that’s kinda a new deal,” Malzahn said in a video uploaded to YouTube by AL.com. “There’s no doubt about that. I think each school has their own policy and opinions and everything that goes with it.”
Malzahn did a fantastic job sidestepping that question, as well as the next one asked of him — what is your policy when it comes to graduate transfers?
“It just depends on the situation,” he answered.
There’s probably a good reason he didn’t really answer either question; based on his history, there’s a good chance Malzahn would attempt to block any graduate transfers from heading to another SEC program.
That’s what Malzahn did last offseason when defensive lineman Antwuan Jackson announced his departure from Auburn. Malzahn denied Jackson the opportunity to transfer to Alabama or Ohio State and he was forced to play a season at Blinn Community College. Jackson signed with Ohio State in the 2018 recruiting class as a junior college prospect.
Why Malzahn felt the need to block Jackson from playing at Ohio State is unclear but if he did that with a player knowing he’d have to sit out after transferring, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t allow a player to leave his program and suit up immediately for Alabama.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
