Headline: Fourth Georgia Player Arrested On Serious Driving Charges in 2023 | Off-Field Issues Could Make or Break Kirby Smart Chances at a Three-Peat
Kirby Smart and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department have become real acquainted this offseason with Georgia football players continuing to find themselves in trouble with the law.
Bulldogs wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jackson becomes the fourth football player arrested in 2023 on driving charges. He was arrested on Tuesday for reckless driving and speeding charges. The senior wide receiver was booked by Athens-Clarke County Police but posted bond an hour later, according to The Athletic.
It looks like Smart will probably need to spend a little bit less time coaching on the field and start coaching his players on how to act off the field.
Eventful Offseason
The Bulldogs enjoyed their second of back-to-back titles in January but have made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In January, former offensive tackle Devin Willock and team staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed in a deadly car crash stemming from a wreckless driving incident that involved defensive tackle Jalen Carter. LeCroy was driving an SUV that was university property with Willock, another staffer, and another football player in the car. Willock’s father filed a $40 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Georgia Athletic Association that also named Carter.
Carter was arrested on March 1 ahead of the 2023 NFL draft combine. He was charged with reckless driving and street racing. He pleaded no contest to the charges. Carter was also given 12 months probation, a $1,000 fine, 80 hours of community service and was required to complete a court mandated defensive driving course.
Bulldogs Linebacker Jason Dumas-Johnson was reportedly arrested for racing and reckless driving five days before the car crash that killed Willock.
Then, wide receiver De’Nylon Morrissette was arrested in early May on multiple driving related charges, including a DUI.
No Three-Peat?
The Bulldogs are always going to be loaded with talent but the chances of a repeat are very slim. They have lost a lot of talent from both sides of the ball that includes starting quarterback Stetson Bennett, Carter, defense back Kelee Ringo, linebackers Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith, safety Lewis Cine, defensive linemen Jordan Davis and Travon Walker, etc.
Smart will now have to get back to the basics and instill discipline into the Georgia football program. He works hard to dispel that notion of the Bulldogs being undisciplined that haunted the program during the Mark Richt era.
Former college head coach Steve Spurrier once called out UGA for all of its player suspensions while he was at South Carolina.
“I don’t know. I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended,” said Spurrier to reporters ahead of the 2012 matchup after the Gamecocks-Bulldogs matchup was moved to the sixth week of the season.
It is time for Smart to get things back on track if the Bulldogs have any chance of being the first college football program to three-peat since Minnesota did it from 1934-36.
