Hayes: After talking with Kirby Smart, I’m convinced he’ll fix Georgia’s dangerous speeding problem
By Matt Hayes
Published:
NASHVILLE — He arrived Tuesday at the SEC Media Days big top, and this annual circus must have felt like a picnic compared to what has unfolded over the past 7 months.
The death and drama of the offseason finally came full circle.
That was Georgia coach Kirby Smart, standing on the big stage in the big room and somberly stating the Georgia program lost 2 of its own in the offseason.
Nearly 7 months ago, guard Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy died while speeding and recklessly driving and racing former player Jalen Carter. Since then, Georgia players have racked up 11 traffic citations.
“We love them, and we miss them,” Smart said.
But what is Georgia doing to learn from it? Well, I think I might have found out.
After Smart spent his 30-minute session on the big stage answering 13 questions — 12 of which were softballs from Fred’s Podcast and the Johnny Ballpark Franks of the world, and all of 1 about the speeding and reckless driving issues engulfing the offseason — I got him on my radio show in Jacksonville and got a chance to delve deeper.
It took 1 question to figure out where this is headed: More than likely, there will be suspensions on the way for Georgia players who haven’t heard the message from the head coach.
I asked Smart if he believed in legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s philosophy that the bench is a coach’s best friend for issues on and off the field. Smart agreed, and then took it one step further when it pertains to problems off the field.
“Absolutely, there are times when (benching players) is the best avenue for them,” Smart said. “You need to sit. You need to come over here and understand that this game can be taken away from you at the drop of a hat. You better appreciate the game more, if you can’t learn to do the right things off the field.”
I then asked if it were difficult for players of today to grasp that philosophy, and he said, “They don’t understand until you take action sometimes. Action can be all kinds of things. Punishment, discipline, education. They need it. I needed it when I was that age.”
To be intellectually fair and honest, Smart is dealing with young men, and dealing with young men away home for the first time, and dealing with young, elite athletes who believe they’re bulletproof. They do dumb things and don’t always learn from them until something negative happens.
In this case, death happened.
So while you and I can’t fathom a player seeing a teammate die in a car accident because of speeding and reckless driving, and then going out and doing the same thing over and over, we’re not teenagers or in our early 20s, and we’re not Power 5 players who have been coddled from the moment it was obvious they could play football better than everyone else.
To ignore that as part of the equation is preposterous.
Does it make it right? No. Because when players are speeding and driving recklessly, they’re endangering others, too.
For those waiting all offseason for Smart to make a public statement about discipline of players who either aren’t hearing his message or are willfully ignoring it, you didn’t get it at Media Days. But it’s coming.
There’s no chance Smart saw the death of 1 of the most beloved players on the team, and a staffer who has been an intricate part of his successful recruiting machine, and didn’t take action. There’s no chance that action was simply running stadium steps.
More than likely, he took away the 1 thing that means the most to players: playing time. Less playing time means less game tape for NFL scouts. And almost everyone on the Georgia roster wants to play in the NFL.
That means suspensions doled out during the first 2 games of the season against Tennessee-Martin and Ball State. The immediate response to that: those are games Georgia could win with their 2nd and 3rd teams playing.
Of course it is. But it’s still punishment because these guys want to play. They want to get on the field and show this potential championship team is better than the previous 2.
They don’t want to sit in the age of ESPN highlights and social media trends and NIL deals. They want on the field.
So when the season-opener arrives and Georgia is short a handful or more players serving suspension, you’ll know Smart’s discipline decision. If the speeding and reckless driving and racing continues to happen, there’s only 1 answer.
Permanently eliminating playing time.
Matt Hayes is a national college football writer for Saturday Down South. You can hear him daily from 12-3 p.m. on 1010XL in Jacksonville. Follow on Twitter @MattHayesCFB
