‘That falls on me.’ Kirby Smart speaks out after 6 Bulldogs players arrested in 1 month

Normally, Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart is pretty quiet about his players’ legal troubles.

Normally, though, his Bulldogs wouldn’t have this many run-ins with the law in such a short amount of time.

On Tuesday, Smart spoke to media about the recent slew of arrests, with two happening earlier that afternoon.

Bulldogs linebackers Brenton Cox and Robert Beal were arrested Tuesday for possession of marijuana (less than one ounce). Both were released on $1,000 bond — Cox at 4:08 p.m. and Beal at 4:21 p.m.

Those arrests marked the fifth and sixth for the Bulldogs in just over one month. For a time of year when teams work on getting better on the field, the Bulldogs have taken considerable steps backward.

“We have policies and rules in place,” Smart said. “These guys violated those rules, and they’ll serve the punishment they deserve for it. I hate the decisions they’ve made. They’ve got to learn, as young men, that you can’t break the law.”

The punishment Smart referenced wasn’t clear Tuesday.

“You want guys with high character” who make “good decisions,” he said.

Smart said the arrests are not an indictment on the leadership on his team. The coach said he spoke with several players on the leadership group after practice and described them as “very frustrated.”

“I’m just extremely disappointed that we’ve got guys that won’t follow the rules and the law, and make good decisions,” Smart said. “And if they don’t, they’re not going to be here.”

Smart called it a “privilege” to play football at Georgia, and that he doesn’t know that some of his players realize that.

“Sometimes, you don’t realize it until the privilege is lost,” Smart said. “Sometimes it takes a catastrophic event to change your course. When I’m talking about ‘catastrophic event,’ it’s losing your privilege of being here.”

Bulldogs Tyler Simmons and Tyrique Stevenson were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after an incident at a downtown Athens bar early Sunday morning, according to Athens-Clarke County police. Simmons wasn’t accepted by the jail and didn’t have to post bond due to the misdemeanor offense.

Before that, linebacker Jaden Hunter was arrested March 21 for driving with a suspended license and stopping/standing/parking where prohibited. According to a police report, Hunter parked his car in the road near UGA resident community East Campus Village while he used the restroom.

Defensive back Latavious Brini was arrested in late February for allegedly slapping a man in the face during a mass altercation on College Avenue.

“I’ve obviously done a poor job with this group of connecting and making sure they listen and understand things,” Smart said. “... Obviously, our guys have not done a great job of (following the law), and that falls on me.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 8:26 PM.