For a few days during the most recent transfer portal window, Alabama football thought it had made a major upgrade at running back. But after initially committing on Jan. 5, Smothers decided on the 11th to flip. He instead joined Texas, led by head coach Steve Sarkisian, a former UA coordinator under Nick Saban. “NIL didn’t play a big factor for me, no matter how much the internet factors it,” Smothers said in the On3 story. Instead, Alabama will rely on the returning Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley and AK Dear next season, along with talented true freshman EJ Crowell.