Kirby Smart says there have been fines, suspensions for UGA players arrested

DALLAS, Texas — University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart spoke for the first time since two more players were charged and a third was cited for reckless driving and racing.

The issue comes from the arrests of offensive lineman Johnathan “Bo” Hughley and linebacker Smael Mondon.

UGA police arrested Hughley for reckless driving when he lost control of his car trying to speed around another car and crashed, according to the officer’s report.

Athens-Clarke County police arrested Mondon for racing with a teammate, Demello Jones, and telling him “not to put it in the group chat.” Police only issued a citation for Jones.

SEC Media Days is being held in Dallas where Smart indirectly addressed the arrests and his disappointment.

“You want your kids, your players to make better decisions,” Smart said. “I always talk about processing outcomes in wins and losses. We try not to base things on outcomes. In this case, the outcomes are very disappointing.”

“But I am very pleased with the process we’ve put in in terms of education, driver safety, requiring defensive driving, education, talking about it, having leaders stand up and talk about it, bringing speakers in, suspending or dismissing players,” he added.

There have been questions about how the UGA program is disciplining the players for their arrests and citations.

Smart didn’t go into specifics, but pointed out there have been fines, suspensions and dismissals in the past year for the program.

“I don’t know, to this point, anyone coaching college football that has suspended a player for a driving citation. We have and we’ve also dismissed players based on driving citations. Nobody’s done that,” Smart said.

Hughley and Mondon aren’t the only UGA players who have been charged for racing-related offenses.

They are just two of more than a dozen players who have been arrested or cited for driving-related charges since Jan. 2023 after a deadly crash killed offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy.