The Georgia Bulldogs football program has faced a highly publicized and frequent issue with driving-related arrests over the past few years.
In January 2023, less than a week after the team won its second consecutive national championship, offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy were tragically killed in a car accident. LeCroy’s SUV was traveling at 104 mph, and her blood alcohol concentration was 2.5 times the legal limit.
Following two more incidents last week, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that since the tragedy less than two years ago, there have been no less than 24 arrests within the football program where “an individual associated with Georgia football has been apprehended by police for speeding, reckless driving or (DUI).”
Head Coach Kirby Smart addressed the ongoing issue during his appearance at SEC Media Days:
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“I think the number one thing is [I’m] disappointed,” Smart began when asked what he is doing to address the situation and why it continues to occur. “Anytime you have a situation like that you want your kids, your players, to make better decisions…I always say you can’t be outcome oriented, and I am very disappointed in the outcome but I am very pleased with our process we have put in for education, driver safety, requiring defensive driving, education, talking about it, having leaders talk about it, bringing speakers in.”
Smart went on to say he has suspended and kicked players off the team for it.
“I don’t know to this point any coach in college football that has suspended a player for a driving citation. We have, we have. And we’ve also dismissed players based on driving citations. Nobody’s done that,” Smart said intensely. “Hopefully they get the idea and the information…but we have a really good locker room, I feel really good about it. I love the players we have. We have good kids. We had 25 kids yesterday playing in a breast cancer golf tournament to raise money. We have kids that go to Camp Sunshine, the whole team. We do a lot of good things. But it’s not representative of the things we want when we make mistakes like that.”
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
