Kirby Smart addressed Georgia football’s driving incidents at SEC Media Days

Reckless driving and DUI incidents have been a storyline with Georgia football for back-to-back offseasons, but despite the recurring arrests, Kirby Smart is “pleased with our process.”

Following three offseason arrests of Georgia football players for driving-related incidents, Kirby Smart was asked about the alarming trend throughout his program at his press conference during Day 2 of SEC Media Days:

Smart took the opportunity to pat himself on the back for the process that Georgia has put in place and the fact that he’s suspended and dismissed players for driving arrests before. Taking a victory lap, after most of his team already has through Athens, is quite an interesting press conference strategy, but it’s a whole lot better than admitting to drunk driving thousands of times. 

After Trevor Etienne, Bo Hughley, Smael Mondon Jr. were arrested for either reckless driving, DUI, or both, the topic was bound to come up during Smart’s time in Dallas. So, now that he’s addressed it, as long as the rest of the roster behaves between now and kickoff in Week 1, Smart likely won’t have to deal with questions. 

However, Smart failed to address the specific punishment for this offseason’s players because the educational process doesn’t seem to be working. Taking the tone of, 'I'm not mad I'm just disappointed' isn't quite stern enough when it comes to driving-related arrests for a program that has already lost a teammate to a street race. He could have done more, but Mike Gundy set the bar so low at Big 12 Media Days that Smart was able to easily clear it in Dallas on Tuesday.