I never sleep at night, worrying about that. You’re always concerned about that as a football coach. I’m still wrestling with that.”Īnd then: “You ask about the invincibility question, or are we above the law. “I wish that we could prevent the speeding issues and learn from a horrific tragic event. “I don’t think there’s anything I would have done differently,” Smart said when asked about the last several weeks. Because if this entire offseason was about one potentially wrong newspaper story, there wouldn’t be so much noise right now. It means ratcheting up discipline and messaging. That means being more proactive when it comes to dealing with player problems and being more transparent with those actions publicly. Smart called the story “sensationalized and inaccurate.” Brooks called it “inaccurate and misleading.” Georgia’s department of legal affairs took the unusually aggressive approach of outlining mistakes and mischaracterizations in the story in a nine-page letter to the paper and is demanding a retraction.īut even in the best-case scenario of Georgia having not lost its moral compass, Smart must recognize the program is under a microscope like never before, not in a good way, and he must respond differently. It took two weeks before he, athletic director Josh Brooks and other school officials responded Tuesday about the sexual misconduct story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ![]() He has consistently resisted being transparent about how he disciplines players, which can create doubt among critics that the issues are really being taken seriously. But he was slow to respond publicly when stories were being written about his players’ driving habits, before finally giving an interview to ESPN. I don’t believe Smart is a bad person or so maniacal and laser-focused on winning that he’s oblivious or uncaring about the issues. He’s responsible for the messaging to his players and how he responds to negative news publicly. But he is the face and voice of the program. Smart isn’t at fault for everything that has happened. It has been a bad offseason, the worst ever under Smart, from a tragic car crash the night of the Bulldogs’ championship parade that took two lives, to stories about street racing and traffic tickets that followed. Even if Georgia is right that the program was unjustly smeared by a newspaper report that suggested the school’s coaches and administrators look the other way when football players are accused of sexual misconduct, the cloud over this program right now is undeniable. Roy, who played wide receiver at Hofstra and coached the position at his alma mater from 2007-09, said he knows when coaches are genuine.This would be a good time for Smart to reevaluate the way he does some things. Roy said Smart joked about Holy Trinity winning back-to-back titles in the CHSFL, as his Bulldogs have done in college football. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, right, walks with Holy Trinity head coach Kahmal Roy as he is visiting Holy Trinity High School on Friday, Jan. ![]() Instead, Smart and Roy spoke privately about their lives and coaching experiences. “They were the best team in college football and came down to a small town on Long Island to see the school.”īecause of NCAA recruiting regulations, Smart and Brown did not interact with one another and Smart did not comment publicly. ![]() “Can I borrow anybody’s coat?” Smart joked as he walked with Holy Trinity coach Kahmal Roy from the football field to the school.īrown, a junior who holds a scholarship offer to Georgia and 20 other Division I FBS college football programs, is the only player in the state with an offer from Georgia. Less than a month after his Bulldogs beat TCU, 65-7, in the national championship game to complete a 15-0 season, Smart warmed those around him after landing in Hicksville.
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