During Georgia’s Tuesday spring practice, news broke that linebackers Robert Beal and Brenton Cox had been arrested on possession of marijuana charges. After practice, UGA coach Kirby Smart met with reporters and he was asked to comment on the arrests.
Smart took blame for doing “a poor job with this group of connecting.” He vowed to drive home a message of “you can’t break the rules, you can’t break the law.” He said that he was made aware of the arrests before the start of practice.
While reports from the Smart post-practice press conference do not mention any punishment or discipline, Smart did mention that the arrests could lead to changes on the recruiting trail. He expressed frustration that the players are not treating their opportunity at UGA as a privilege.
He brought up the arrests again later when asked about where the Bulldogs have improved this spring.
“It ain’t off the field, I can tell you that,” Smart said.
Tuesday’s arrests brought the offseason total up to six. The four other arrests occurred in March.
Kirby Smart on Cox and Beal arrests: “I’ve obviously done a poor job with this group of connecting … He said they’ve got to learn “you can’t break the rules, you can’t break the law.”
— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) April 2, 2019
Smart said he was made aware of the Cox-Beal arrests right before practice: “Obviously, I’ve done a poor job with this group.”
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) April 2, 2019
Kirby Smart post-practice addresses arrests of Robert Beal and Brenton Cox, and recent rash of arrests, says he has done a “poor job” of getting through to players. “That all falls on me,” he said.
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) April 2, 2019
Smart spoke of re-examining his player selection criteria saying a some of the players do not realize the privilege.
— Bulldawg Illustrated (@BD_illustrated) April 2, 2019
When asked what UGA has gotten better at during spring practice Smart said: “It ain’t off the field, I can tell you that.”
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) April 2, 2019
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
