By Rock Westfall
As I said here last week and in March , if Kirby Smart got results on the field that are equivalent to what he does off it, he would be fired as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs. Last week, Smart’s program made the police blotter yet again when Rara Thomas was arrested on Friday morning for battery and cruelty to children charges. The charges were posted on the Athens-Clark County jail website. No further details were available and Thomas is suspended indefinitely. Last year, Thomas was arrested for alleged domestic violence but got the charges dropped.
Earlier in July, Georgia starting linebacker Smael Mondon and backup offensive tackle Bo Hughley were arrested on separate misdemeanor charges of reckless driving. Since 2023, there have been 24 driving-related incidents by the Bulldogs, including the loss of life.
Kirby Smart now runs what is seen as college football’s most out-of-control renegade program. Georgia’s plight is reminiscent of a former SEC powerhouse and coach.
A Fast and Furious Time Machine Ride to Gangsville
Urban Meyer went 65-15 for a .813 win percentage and two national championships at Florida. Mixed with the clean, highly and publicly religious Tim Tebow winning a Heisman Trophy and two Maxwell Awards was a program that terrorized Gainesville, Florida, into Gangsville.
Meyer had numerous emotional breakdowns and crying sessions in his time, including an infamous, so-called “fake heart attack” after losing the 2009 SEC championship game 32-13 to Alabama. Meyer quit after the game, only to be talked back into a disastrous final season before leaving for good. It was well past time.
Previously, The New York Times reported that a staggering 41 of the 121 players listed on Florida's 2008 national championship roster had either been arrested while at Florida or after leaving there. Specifically, under Meyer, 31 Gators were arrested. That might explain why Meyer eventually had to leave under fire and with his mental and physical health cracking under the weight of a program he lost all control of.
This embarrassment of thuggery was on the heels of reports of several incidents involving former Gators tight end Aaron Hernandez, now deceased, during his time in Gainesville, including a bar fight and a 2007 shooting.
The abundance of arrests from the 2008 title team and Hernandez's seemingly constant enabling beg the question of why it was tolerated. The answer is actually quite simple. Urban Meyer led the Gators to two national championships.
A similar saga continues to develop in Athens, Georgia.
UGA Fans & Brass - Unindicted Co-Conspirators
The late great Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Georgia Bulldog administrators and fans have made that their Golden Rule.
Through their actions, the UGA brass, fans, and boosters have no problem with the lawless image of the Georgia Football program. Winning brings money and prestige. "It just means more."
Nobody, except the loved ones of the victims, remembers them. For everyone else, it’s all about gridiron glory. And with Nick Saban retired at Alabama, Georgia believes it is poised to become the next college football dynasty.
Kirby Smart is an intelligent man who was an excellent student-athlete in his football playing days for Georgia. Time and again, he has outlined what he has tried to do to end the legal issues that are overshadowing the best on-field program in college football. The meetings, punishments, and guest speaker list are undeniably impressive. But the results are not.
Smart is celebrated as college football’s best recruiter. But it is well past time to ask just what kind of players he is bringing into Athens. That is because, for all his efforts to curtail the arrest reports, the results are lacking.
When a college football coach is failing on the field, nobody is interested in his whining about how hard he works and his well-designed plans. Fans just care that he is failing. If Kirby Smart’s off-field failures were the same as on-field, he would have been let go long ago.
Again, I ask, does somebody else have to die for Georgia’s reign of terror to end? Is it safe for innocent citizens to live in Athens? Would you want to send your kids to school there?
Will it take losing on the field to right the wrongs finally?
The question answers itself.
Follow the money and glory.
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