CFB AM: There's more smoke to the Braxton Miller-Alabama rumors

Published Apr. 23, 2015 9:30 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

The Braxton Miller-to-Alabama rumors seem to be growing by the day, and the guess is there will only be more smoke as Miller nears the end of the spring semester at Ohio State, when he'll be eligible to transfer to a new school and play immediately since he has his degree.

How did we get here?

Well, the other day national radio host Paul Finebaum -- a prominent voice in the South -- said on his show that a source at Alabama told him there's a possibility of Miller transferring to play for the Crimson Tide this fall. Nick Saban was then asked about that report and denied knowing anything about it.

"I'm not really allowed to talk about any other players on any other team," Saban told BamaOnLine.com. "I know nothing about any such rumors. I don't even know who you're talking about."

It may be true that Saban doesn't know anything about "any such rumors" of Miller leaving Ohio State, but he certainly knows who the quarterback is and one would guess the possibility of adding a QB of Miller's caliber to his team this year has crossed his mind. But now there's this on the Internet stirring things up a little bit more:

Ray Glier is a journalist in Atlanta and the author of "How The SEC Became Goliath." Of course, it's possible ALL of this could be true -- that Miller has actually visited Bama three times, but it wasn't Saban escorting him around the place. So we're not saying Saban is lying about his knowledge of "such rumors," necessarily. We're just saying there's more smoke here, and usually behind smoke is at least some truth.

On the surface, Miller-to-Bama would seem to make sense for both sides. Ohio State's logjam at QB has been well documented, so it would make sense for Miller to pursue an opportunity where he's not competing with Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett, two Heisman-caliber talents. Alabama, with offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, would also give Miller a better opportunity to show NFL teams he can operate in a more pro-style system.

Alabama, meanwhile, has a handful of quarterbacks competing to replace Blake Sims, but none of them took hold of the job in the spring. As my colleague Bruce Feldman noted in his takeaways from Tuscaloosa the other day, expected starter Jake Coker hasn't grabbed the job like some thought he would, instead fueling some doubts about how well he reads defenses and his ability to consistently make proper decisions on the field.

On the general topic of adding a graduate transfer, Saban said, "If there was somebody out there that I thought could help our team, we have a spot or two available that we could probably -- but it would have to be the right person in the right place that could make a contribution because that would be something that would have to be good for that person and it would have to be good for us."

We shall see, but Miller at Bama would be awesome for college football fans.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Jameis Winston's crab legs story is being refuted. This will totally surprise you, but the story former FSU QB Jameis Winston gave in a recent interview is being refuted by both Florida State and Publix, the grocery store Winston took crab legs from last year without paying. Since you're definitely reaching your limit of hearing "Winston" and "crab legs" in the same breath, I'll keep this brief: Winston said he had a hook up at Publix, allowing him to get free food. Publix said no such hook up exists after doing a super-serious "internal investigation." The school said it was an isolated incident and the university has no knowledge of players getting free food at any grocery store (of course it doesn't!). Oh, and there's this: Winston's new story, while the most believable, still contradicts a lot of facts. Good times.

2. Satellite camps are still firing people up. Last year, Penn State coach James Franklin irritated some SEC coaches by holding "satellite camps" in the South -- camps that he's not technically hosting, which wouldn't be allowed per NCAA rules, so therefore he can attend as a "guest coach" and get access to recruits in other parts of the country. Lots of coaches do this, and Jim Harbaugh at Michigan is the latest. He'll participate in a camp in Alabama in June -- in addition to camps in Florida, Texas, California and other states -- and so now we have the SEC schools upset again. To be fair, they all have a point and most of them just want to recruit by the same rules. As Saban points out in that link above, the NCAA has so many ridiculous recruiting rules but it allows the coach of Michigan to unofficially-officially hold camps all over the country. It makes no sense.

While we're here: HBO Real Sports did a feature on Harbaugh that ran the other night. You can watch the full piece here.

3. Your new favorite recruit. His name is Rowdy Frederick, and dammit if that name is not enough to love him, then check out his mullet.

Have a great Thursday, everybody.

Teddy Mitrosilis works in content production at FOX Sports Digital. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

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