It won’t be long before another anticipated season of Bulldogs football gets underway, and one of the first signs is SEC Media Day, this year held in Dallas, Texas.
Bulldogs Head Coach Kirby Smart met with the press to talk about the upcoming season, but recent events involving Bulldog players’ widely publicized traffic incidents and what he had to say about them, got a lot of attention. He made it clear that he wasn’t happy with the behavior off the field of some players, and defended his team’s disciplinary efforts, although he acknowledged, more could be done.
“Any time you have a situation like that you want your kids, players to make better decisions,” said Smart in a press conference this morning. “I always say you can t be outcome-related. I’m very disappointed in the outcomes but I am very pleased with our process we put in in terms of education, driver safety, requiring defensive driving, education…”
Smart later told 11 Alive Sports Reporter Maria Martin he hopes the players will encourage each other to make better off-the-field decisions.
“I’m certainly disappointed in some of the decisions and actions of guys that have made mistakes to embarrass the program,” he said. “When you make mistakes like they made off the field you can do that. I think some guys on the team have spoke up and said that. Their voice is going to mean more than mine and I encourage that.”
Recent driving incidents involving Bulldog players have put the team in a bad public light. According to news reports, there have been 24 incidents of vehicular violations involving UGA football players, including a fatal crash that killed a player and team staff member 24 hours after a campus parade celebrating their National CFB Championship in January 2023.
Smart told the press that players who have been charged with driving violations have gotten suspensions and fines through the collective that provides name, image, and likeness payouts to the UGA players. Some violators have also been dismissed by UGA for driving infractions, which he points out no other school does.
Smart also talked about his team going forward and SEC life without his biggest mentor/opponent, former Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban.
Smart said despite a disappointing loss to Alabama last season that knocked the Dawgs out of Natty contention, the team is focused on starting a new year without looking back at the past.
“We’re dealing with new challenges this year,” he said. “We don’t have a chip on our shoulder in terms of people trying to use that as motivation. I’ve never used a failure from the previous year as motivation and never used the success of a previous year as motivation. We won’t do that this year. That’s not who we are.”
Smart says the team looked at the success of Nike, the sportswear maker, and looked at what made the company tick as an inspiration to the team. One lesson they gained: Take nothing for granted.
“Assume nothing,” he said. “Start from ground zero and build the team different than every other team. Nike did that.”
He acknowledged Saban, who he worked with at Alabama for eleven years before joining the Dawgs.
“That standard that he set for me, day in and day out, he met himself,” he said of Saban. “Every coach that ever worked with him or for him will tell you he does it all himself as well. He doesn’t hold you to any different standard than himself. So a lot of the success I’ve had I give credit to him and thanks.”