Smart forced to be disciplinarian in rookie season at Georgia
HOOVER, Ala. -- Kirby Smart has yet to coach his first game at Georgia, but he’s already had his far share of tough decisions to make when it comes to off-the-field issues. A handful of arrests this offseason have already led to two dismissals, and several other suspensions are likely for the players still on the Bulldogs roster.
While at SEC Media Days on Tuesday, Smart was asked his fair share of questions about player discipline, with most of it coming following his decision to keep Jonathan Ledbetter on the team despite a recent DUI arrest. Smart said he’s taking the arrests very seriously and is committed to dealing with them with more than just discipline.
“I think certainly it's an issue,” Smart said of the off-field issues. “Anytime you have these issues, you have to put things in place within your program to help your players every way possible. We want to help and assist those guys.”
When it came to handing out punishment, Smart said he didn’t take it lightly.
“We've had five guys that have been arrested; two are no longer with us,” he said. “I hate that for them, but our team has moved on. It’s very important that we don’t make the same mistakes twice.”
The Georgia players in attendance were also asked several questions, and tight end Jeb Blazevich said he and the other leaders on the team are taking it as a challenge to step up and lead by example.
“It’s embarrassing. I think everybody knows that. I feel terrible for some of those guys,” Blazevich said. "It’s embarrassing for them but it’s embarrassing for me because I wasn’t a good brother on the team to be able to hold them accountable. So we’re trying to change the culture around there where everyone is holding everyone accountable so we can eliminate these kinds of mistakes.”
Smart, who spent the last nine years as an assistant at Alabama, said he learned plenty from Nick Saban about the burden and responsibility about handling player discipline.
“The unique thing is at the University of Alabama, Nick always brought the issue to the staff and everybody helped in the decision-making process,” Smart said. “Ultimately he had to make the decision. That’s what that seat’s about. That seat has to make those hard calls, those hard decisions. That’s the unique part for me now. But the reaction to it, you understand that these young me are 18 to 21 years old. They’re going to make mistakes. We don’t accept them, we don’t like them, but they’re our babies and we have to help them.”