'Do it for Dev' mantra comes from Devin Willock's tendency to do everything the right way
ATHENS, Ga. — Kirby Smart and every member of Georgia’s football program would love to turn back time. They’d love to go back to the National Championship celebration where they would undoubtedly do whatever it would take to prevent the car crash that killed recruiting support staffer Chandler LeCroy and offensive lineman Devin Willock.
But that can’t happen. It has been two months since the Bulldogs’ lost a mammoth offensive lineman who, if you listen to his teammates, possessed an even bigger heart.
The team has adopted a “Do it for Dev” mantra. Meeting the standard? That’s for Willock. That little bit of extra work? That to, is for Willock. An act of kindness off the field? Yeah, you get the picture.
Kirby Smart isn’t a big fan of outside motivators. He mostly avoids them but that’s not what this is. Considering what Willock meant to his teammates, ‘do it for Dev’ is as intrinsic as it gets.
“Probably from Warren Ericson,” Smart said at UGA’s Pro Day on Wednesday. “He spoke at the memorial service and he said it more like ‘Be like Dev’ because he was never on a list. He was never part of any discipline. Guy never missed a class or was late to anything. I thought Warren said it best when he said that this kid did everything right and if you want to be like somebody, be like Dev. Because he didn’t try to fake it. He didn’t try to be super tough. He was a gentle giant and more people should be who they are.”
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The details of the accident make it even sadder. LeCroy was under the influence of alcohol as she operated the vehicle occupied by Willock, Warren McClendon, and recruiting support staffer Tori Bowles. The latter two survived the crash although Bowles sustained significant injuries.
The Ford Expedition was traveling 104 miles per hour just before leaving the road, striking two large wooden poles, and ejecting Willock, who was not wearing a seat belt, from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. LeCroy was pronounced dead later at the hospital.
Willock, who signed with Georgia in the 2020 recruiting class as a three-star prospect, was just starting to come into his own as a player. He had worked himself into a rotational role at left guard. Odds are that he would have played even more for the Bulldogs in 2023.
Now there’s a 6-foot-7 335-pound hole in the hearts of his family, friends, and all those who got to know him. He leaves behind a legacy of decency and goodness in addition to an example of how to be a model student-athlete.
