What Kirby Smart said about recent arrests, suspensions

DALLAS – A perfect SEC Media Day for Kirby Smart would have been the ability to keep all questions focused on the field of play.

Unfortunately, last week’s arrest of Smael Mondon and Bo Hughley on two separate misdemeanor driving charges ended that possibility.

Tuesday, Smart had plenty to say.

"Disappointing I guess is the best word. I always talk about processes and outcomes. I talk about that in wins and losses, we try to base things on the outcomes," Smart said. "In this situation, the outcomes are very disappointing. The process and the things we put in place I feel very strongly about."

Smart defended the methods he's utilized to try and keep future incidents from occurring.

Those include threats of suspensions, which Smart revealed have been implemented before.

"We do as much or more education than anyone in the country. We have discipline in the form of suspensions, and we will continue to do so and will have suspensions coming out of some of these," Smart said. "We had them last year with the Marcus Rosemy situation. We've also let guys go based on them."

Smart also revealed publicly for the first time that fines are also part of repercussions, especially as it pertains to any NIL funds a player may be receiving. UGASports reported on the fins earlier this year.

"Our Classic City Collective for the past year has been substantially fining guys for those things. It's not something that's new or heightened," Smart said. "It's something that's been going on outside of my jurisdiction that they decided to do and have done to a considerable amount."

Driving safety courses have also been part of the plan.

Per Smart, players with driving arrests and citations, along with players just learning to drive, are sometimes required to take part.

"I still think the best way is proactive, not reactive, education, which we've done," Smart said. “We’ve implemented defensive driving courses, and for the first time ever in my career, we've got kids that have six-hour driving sessions that just got licenses and may not be good drivers. Some of this is poor decisions and some of it is poor driving."

Quarterback Carson Beck also chimed in.

His recent lease of a Lamborgini created headlines but Beck reminded a reporter that while he has a fast car, he's also responsible.

"Let's clarify. I don't like fast cars, I like cars. My car is fast, but I don't drive like an idiot. This has been an issue on our team, but also we have hundreds of players," Beck said. "A large percentage of our guys are very focused, and very on top of that."

Mondon was arrested last Wednesday night on misdemeanor charges of racing and reckless driving in downtown Athens. Per police, Mondon was driving 75 mph in a 45-mph zone.

Teammate Demello Jones was also charged with racing but was not arrested.

Hughley was arrested on July 9 for failure to maintain prop lanes and reckless driving following a single-car accident on River Loop Road.

Both players bonded out on bails totaling $26.

"I don't think it's necessary to go down to the time square and publicly shame kids when that happens," Smart said. "They go through A LOT, and there's a lot of remorse from these young men. But our job is to educate and continue to grow these young men."

Smart gave examples

"Probably the proudest moment I've had in the last year, at workouts the other day, Malik Herring is out there running around with his two-year-old son. He's a father now. He thanked Trey Scott and myself for standing by him when he had some issues when he was with us," Smart said. "Jonathan Ledbetter is awarded the Man of the Year for his team. I think about the trials and tribulations that he went through. We stood by him and they pushed him to become a better person."

Last week's two reckless driving arrests marked the sixth and seventh time involving current players since the tragedy in January of 2023 that claimed the lives of offensive lineman Devin Willock and football staffer Chandler LeCroy.

"Obviously, there are guys who have made mistakes, and Coach Smart has addressed that. Those guys will handle the consequences and we'll make sure they don't happen again," Beck said. 'The tragedy that happened two years ago is the biggest thing, guys just realizing paying attention to the moment and just driving safe. It doesn't matter if you get there five minutes earlier. It's not going to change anything."

Running back Trevor Etienne recently had charges of DUI less safe and DUI under 21 dismissed. Etienne pled no contest to a reckless driving charge, and guilty to charges of underage possession of alcohol, failure to maintain lane, and a window tint violation.

"Again, we don't talk about suspensions. We have them. I think it's pretty obvious that we've done it in the past. You guys know when we do them," Smart said. "But each of those cases were very different and they'll be handled in different ways."