As the transfer portal has taken root across college football and reshaped how rosters are built, most players have come to accept the comings and goings around them.

But not every player approves of it.

“Some guys I wouldn’t say take the easy way out, but when things don’t go their way, especially like in life now, guys transfer,” former Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith said Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “Guys leave — that’s just not how you do [it]. You stick in your program, you work hard, and you prove to your coach that you should be on that field.”

When asked a similar question minutes later, the Bulldogs’ four-year contributor doubled down.

“Kids need to hear this: stick it out,” he said. “Just because things get tough, don’t run away from things. Like, in life, when things get tough, you gonna quit on your wife? You gonna quit on your kids? You gonna transfer on your wife and kids when things get tough? What if you’re married to your wife for 10 years and she get cancer, you just gonna get up and leave?

“That’s how I feel about it, man. You can be a man of character, no matter what you do. That’s how my mom raised me.”

That invited the question: what did Smith think about his teammate from the past four seasons, linebacker Trezmen Marshall, transferring from Georgia to Alabama in January?

That situation was different, Smith argued.

“I know certain times, guys have been in the program for a long time,” Smith said of Marshall. “He’s been in there for four years. He got his degree. He only has one more year. I feel like he did it the right way.”

Marshall, a four-star recruit in 2019, missed significant time in 2020 because of a shoulder injury and 2021 because of a knee injury. But he returned to play in 14 games last season for the Bulldogs, participating on special teams while finishing 2022 with 19 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss and one sack.

“He talked to Coach Smart,” Smith said. “And he said, ‘Coach Smart, if I have other opportunities at other places, would you let me go?’ And [Smart] said, ‘Of course, and we want to you to play because we’ve got new, young players coming in as well.’

“I feel like it’s a certain way that you do things. That’s what I learned at Georgia: there’s a certain way you do everything.”

Marshall was roommates with Smith and 2021 Butkus Award winner Nakobe Dean, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles last year.

“That was my dog. That was my roommate,” Smith said of Marshall. “You talking to the wrong person about Trezmen, man. That’s my guy, man.

“What he brought to the team — a lot of guys think, just because you’re not playing, like, we’re never a cancer. You never want to have a cancer on the team, and he wasn’t that. He brought a lot of good things to the team. We all bring energy and juice every day. When I wasn’t playing, I understood my role. If you understand your role, you’re going to do amazing.”

Marshall’s role for Alabama in 2022 is unclear. He will likely compete for a starting job at inside linebacker alongside Deontae Lawson, after the Tide lost both Henry To’o To’o and Jaylen Moody at that position this offseason. But there are other candidates for that job including a pair of rising sophomores in Jihaad Campbell and Shawn Murphy, as well as Kendrick Blackshire, Ian Jackson and junior college transfer Justin Jefferson.

Whether Marshall contributes on defense or special teams this upcoming season, his former Georgia teammates expect him to elevate the mood.

“I feel like he just brought that vibrant energy,” former linebacker Robert Beal said Wednesday at the combine. “He always was in a good mood, cracking jokes, keeping guys in a good mood. He was a great guy to be around.”

Marshall’s transfer to Alabama comes a year after another Bulldog, wide receiver Jermaine Burton, made the same switch from one rival to another.

“It happens,” Beal said. “It happens.”

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.