Kirby Smart on perception of off-field culture at Georgia: ‘Talk to any of the players’

As Georgia gets ready to start its quest for a third consecutive national championship, there’s been a lot of attention off the field. Multiple Bulldogs have been involved in traffic and speeding incidents, and Kirby Smart has addressed those situations.

It’s also led to questions about the off-field culture at Georgia, and Smart spoke about that at SEC Media Days on Tuesday.

Smart addressed the perception around the program away from the field. He expressed his confidence in his players and said the players know the spotlight they’re under.

“I would say talk to any of the players within our organization,” Smart said. “Talk to the retention rate that we keep with our players. Our players respect the fact that they’re under a microscope and that they always will be as athlete. But we’ve got one of the highest-character, highest GPA, one of the best teams we’ve had. I’m very confident about our team and our culture.”

Kirby Smart: ‘I’m disappointed anytime we have traffic incidents’

One of the traffic incidents occurred after the national championship when lineman Devon Willock and football staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed in an accident. The car was racing another allegedly driven by former Georgia star Jalen Carter, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in April.

Smart expressed his disappointment and made it clear player safety is his top concern.

“I’m disappointed anytime we have traffic incidents,” Smart said. “You know, it’s very evident. When you look at it, we’ve had traffic citations and incidents throughout the history of being at the University of Georgia. And we actually don’t have more now than we’ve had in the past. So what concerns me most is the safety of our players. Alright? 

“And when you drive at high speeds, it’s unsafe, and we don’t want that to happen. We’re going to do all we can to take that out. And make sure that’s eradicated.” 

Smart mentioned how it’s a more common problem among young kids and young adults.

“But I’m also smart to understand and know that 18 to 20 year olds is when this happens,” Smart said. “It happened to me as a student athlete, that’s when speeding happens. What we want to do is take that out and make it safe and not have high speeds. If someone’s gonna get a speeding ticket, it should not be a super speeder.”

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.