With two more arrests for reckless driving, Kirby Smart needs to hold his team accountable

At the SEC spring meetings in May of 2023, following the fatal car crash that cost offensive lineman Devin Willock and Georgia team staffer Chandler LeCroy their lives in January of that year, head coach Kirby Smart addressed the situation. 

“Everybody wants to know what the punishment is,” Smart said, “Well the players know what the punishment is, and that’s important for our guys to acknowledge that and understand it. But I want to educate further, I want to make sure they understand.”

Well, the punishment clearly wasn’t punitive enough because the message fell on deaf ears. 

Since that incident, which cast a shadow over Jalen Carter’s NFL draft as he slid to the Eagles at No. 9 overall after he was charged with two misdemeanor charges of racing and reckless driving, the list of driving-related arrests in the Georgia football program has pilled up. Smart’s two national titles since returning to his alma mater have built a formidable dam against criticism, but at this rate, eventually, the avalanche of player misconduct will break through and land right on Smart’s desk. 

Since Willock and LeCroy’s deaths, De’Nylon Morrissette was arrested in South Carolina and charged with DUI, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint was charged with reckless driving, Florida transfer Trevor Etienne was arrested on charges including DUI and reckless driving, and on Thursday Smael Mondon Jr. and Bo Hughley joined that list as news broke of their recent arrests.

Mondon was reportedly arrested late Wednesday night by Athens/Clark County police and was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and racing on highway/streets. The senior linebacker was released on bond early Thursday morning. 

That incident came a day after Hughley, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman was reportedly arrested by University of Georgia police on two misdemeanor charges including reckless driving. He was released on bond on Tuesday night. 

Every program has its issues, but this problem is becoming systemic and it’s a lazy excuse to blame 'entitled young athletes' because of their NIL riches. It may be new to college athletics, but these aren’t the first young athletes to have money, it falls on Smart to control his program and in Week 1 against Clemson, he has a chance to make a serious statement. 

Smart has never suspended his players for driving-related arrests, and he has plenty of experience dealing with them. Even prior to that laundry list of incidents, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, who has since transferred to Kentucky was arrested for a street-racing incident. 

When addressing the Rosemy-Jacksaint and Morrissette arrests over a year ago, Smart said, ”Nobody’s more embarrassed than Marcus Rosemy and his parents. Oh my gosh, they’re just crushed. Marcus has to learn from this. So does De’Nylon. Part of being an 18-year-old young man, a 19-year-old young man, a 20-year-old young man, is you have to learn from your mistakes. I was that age once too. We don’t condone anything. They’ve got to do a good job and make good decisions off the field.”

Smart’s players aren’t the only ones that have to learn from their mistakes. An offseason filled with educational workshops and speakers didn’t solve his problem, but suspensions will. After losing Dumas-Johnson and Xavian Sorey Jr. in the transfer portal, Georgia is very young at linebacker, but for the safety of his athletes and the integrity of his program, he should risk a Week 1 loss to Dabo Swinney’s Tigers to send a message. 

It would be breaking with his precedent, but it couldn’t be more obvious that his previous actions were ineffective. SEC football is all about winning and Smart’s players know that. Until he values their lives and that of other drivers in the Athens/Clark County area, above his win/loss record, nothing is going to change. 

So, it’s time for Smart to make a statement, to suspend his Mondon and Hughley for Week 1 and the beauty of it for Georgia is that the expanded 12-team playoff allows them this leeway. Last season, Georgia went into the SEC Championship game against Alabama undefeated and after a 27-24 loss, finished at No. 6 in the country. This year, even at 11-1 or 10-2 with a Clemson loss and maybe another heading into the SEC title game, Smart can still nab a top-four seed and a first-round bye as the SEC Champion. 

Win at all costs has always been the modus operandi for Kirby Smart in Athens, and apparently, that applies to street racing as well. Well, now that the sport affords it, maybe the philosophy should be to win at most costs, or it will cost another one of Smart’s players their life.