DALLAS — Georgia players are facing suspensions for traffic violations, coach Kirby Smart confirmed Tuesday, but there is another internal penalty: fines through the program’s collective bargaining agreement, which have been in place for some time, Smart said.
“Our Classic City Collective has been giving out hefty fines to guys for over a year for these things,” Smart said. “That’s not something new. That’s something that’s been going on outside of my jurisdiction that they decided to implement and did for a significant amount of money.”
Georgia continues to have problems with drunkenness arrests, including two last week. Seven players have been arrested on drunkenness-related charges since the January 2023 car crash that killed player Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy, with police finding that LeCroy had been drinking and racing with then-player Jalen Carter.
Safety David Daniel-Sisavanh, who was arrested in February for reckless driving, has been removed from the program for what Smart would only call a violation of team rules.
Speeding tickets have been issued and a staff member (Jarvis Jones) has been arrested for speeding. Another player, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, was arrested last year for a street racing incident that occurred before the crash.
Smart has declined to specify what the suspensions will be, confirming them only after the fact, such as last year when receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint was suspended following a speeding arrest. As this season approaches, running back Trevor Etienne (DUI) and linebacker Smael Mondon (reckless driving, racing) appear likely to be suspended. But Smart said he would not announce those suspensions in advance.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily right to go to the town square and publicly shame kids when that happens,” Smart said. “They’ve been through a lot, and there’s a lot of remorse from these young men who have made mistakes. But our job is to nurture these young men, to continue to grow them.”
But how could an otherwise disciplined program fail to address this problem, given all the arrests made after a tragic car accident?
“It’s a great question,” Smart said. “I would love to have every possible solution, because we actually write it down now every time we talk about it and every time we address it, and we have someone in every meeting who hears that, and before I came along, it had been mentioned about 162 times.
“But if people say, ‘Well, it’s falling on deaf ears, you’ve got to have discipline, you’ve got to discipline someone.’ Well, we’ve done that and we’ll continue to do that. If the actions require that, we’ll do what it takes to do that. But I do think the effective way to curtail some of those things is when you go into their wallets and find them, because these fines have been substantial and it will make you think twice about the mistakes you’re making.”
Georgia has used what Smart called proactive education, such as defensive driving lessons. But Smart also defended the disciplinary process.
“To my knowledge, there is no team in the country that has ever suspended a player for traffic violations that Marcus Rosemy was suspended for,” Smart said. “I don’t know if anyone has ever suspended anyone for that. And we have. And we continue to be proactive. It’s repeated behavior that will get you fired. Repeated bad behavior and bad decisions. In some cases, we have repeated behavior, and in some cases, we have guys who make mistakes, and we’re going to punish them.”
Senior quarterback Carson Beck, famous for driving a Lamborghini, was asked if “driving a fast car” sent the wrong message. Beck took offense.
“Let’s get this straight: I don’t like fast cars. But I do like cars. Yes, my car is fast, 100 percent, but I don’t drive like an idiot,” Beck said. “It’s funny to talk about it, but it’s a serious problem in our team. But we also have hundreds of players and a large percentage of our guys are very focused and on top of it. But of course there are guys who have made mistakes and there are consequences for that. …
“Obviously the biggest thing with the tragedy that happened two years ago is that guys realize they have to be in the moment. … It doesn’t matter if you’re there five minutes early, it’s not going to change anything. Take it easy and follow the rules.”
(Photo by Kirby Smart: Kirby Lee/USA Today)