Early on Tuesday morning news broke that Georgia football wide receiver Colbie Young was arrested on charges of battery and assault on an unborn child. This news is about as heartbreaking as it gets, but when you add in the amount of legal incidents occurring in the football program over this last year you really start to question what is going on in the program.
As you all probably guessed, social media exploded when this news broke. Members of rival fanbases are voicing their opinions and Georgia fans are starting to become increasingly concerned with the state of the program as well. Here are just a few of the posts on X that stood out to me this morning when I saw this news drop.
A coach can’t control every action by his players, but Georgia is lacking is leadership in a big way right now. I don’t know the details of this incident, but something isn’t working in Athens.
— Jon Tweets Sports (@jontweetssports) October 8, 2024
It’s Kirby Smart’s job to figure it out. https://t.co/IMSo0xvOHm
At some point, Georgia and Kirby Smart need to admit there is a problem with the program's culture and fix it. The lack of control is approaching Urban Meyer levels. https://t.co/hduIpTPguC
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) October 8, 2024
I love Kirby Smart and am very thankful for his tireless work and what he has accomplished for UGA. But…maybe he should worry about his team culture rather than the quality of fans cheering at games.
— Bobby (@BobbyWilson1004) October 8, 2024
Really feels like Kirby Smart has a lack of control over his institution. https://t.co/dDtfGH0GL6
— Robbie Tinsley (@RTinMan13) October 8, 2024
at some point kirby needs to take ownership. / responsibility because it’s just gotten wildly out of control https://t.co/FyeGpjEBfE
— Chris Moxley (@ChrisMoxley19) October 8, 2024
As someone who will love Georgia football until the day that I die these people on social media bring up some good points. At this point it isn't just a coincidence anymore that all of these legal issues continue to happen with the football program. Every player that's been involved deserves their individual blame, but at some point does Kirby Smart need to be held accountable as well?
Obviously I can’t answer that question and I hope Smart is not punished, but would any of us be surprised if some punishment was handed down by the athletic department or NCAA because of this string of incidents? I know I wouldn't.
I'm sure Smart and his staff have addressed these issues with the team (if he hasn't then that is a serious problem on its own) but what he's doing clearly isn't working. Winning will always be the most important thing, but shaping these young athletes into men that represent the University and football program well should be right up there on the list of priorities as well. And as of recently Smart and his staff haven't been doing a good enough job at that.
I really hope this is the last incident that occurs in the program because nobody likes seeing these stories break and I'm sure we all just want to get back to watching Georgia football without all the off the field drama.