Kirby Smart opened his first spring practice press conference by addressing culture and expectations for players at Georgia.

“Certainly we haven’t met some of those requirements, and we want our student-athletes to meet those, and we take those things very seriously,” he said. “The standards have been created here for a long time, that doesn’t change, and we want our players to live up to those and the mistakes they make, we treat them like we do our kids. We discipline them. We try to prevent them, we try to educate them, we try to do all we can to help our student-athletes in a positive way.”

Smart referenced the fatal wreck that claimed the lives of offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy, and said he tells players that decisions can take your life.

Smart reiterated that he believes strongly that Georgia has a great group of men on the football team, and cited a high grade-point average in the fall, and community outreach efforts.

Georgia will miss several players this spring, Smart said, including S Dan Jackson (stress fracture), OLB Marvin Jones Jr. (shoulder), OL Josh Miller (shoulder), RB Andrew Paul (ACL) and OLB Jalon Walker (shoulder surgery).