UGA’s Smart: Speeding continues to be an issue

• Mark Schlabach, ESPN

  • Senior Citizen WriterJul 11, 2023, 04:51 PM ET Close Senior college football author Author of seven books on college football
  • Graduate of the University of Georgia

ATHENS, Ga.– Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday that he hasn’t yet resolved the speeding issue that has actually pestered his team however that he is “constantly looking and searching” for ways to resolve it.Last week, freshman outside linebacker Samuel M’Pemba was ticketed for driving 88 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone, according to records from the Oconee County Constable’s Workplace. His speeding citation took place about an hour prior to Bulldogs receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint made a look in court in Athens and pleaded guilty to driving 90 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone.M’Pemba’s citation was at least the 11th traffic-related moving infraction involving Georgia football players and their cars since Jan. 15, when offending lineman Devin Willock and football staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed in a wreck in which cops allege LeCroy’s SUV was racing a car being driving by former Bulldogs defensive take on Jalen Carter. Authorities said LeCroy’s SUV was traveling more than 100 mph when it left the roadway and slammed into power poles and trees.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated LeCroy had a blood alcohol concentration of.197% at the time of the crash, cops stated a toxicology report showed. The legal limit in Georgia is.08.

“I’ll be the first to confess we have not fixed that problem or problem,” Smart informed press reporters during a news conference Tuesday. “I don’t truthfully understand that anyone has, but certainly for us, it is very important to acknowledge it initially. We’ve had a great deal of intervention in terms of talking and visiting, and discipline measures have actually been implemented in regards to education. We’ll continue to do that.”

In an interview with ESPN in March, Smart stated he had enlisted the aid of officers from Athens-Clarke County Cops, University of Georgia Authorities and the Georgia State Patrol in informing his players about the dangers of racing and driving quick.

“It’s one of the important things that we wish to manage, but it is a difficult circumstance to manage when you have 18- to 22-year-old guys [and] a great deal of them are driving for the very first time,” Smart said. “You understand, every fall we have 25 brand-new men. We have actually averaged 5 people that come here at 18 years old with no driver’s license, and we continue to work on that. I do not have the precise response. I want I did, but we continue to operate at it.

“I are among those that believes abuse brings control, and we’ll continue to educate our players the best we can and attempt to do a better task with it.”

Smart stated his program has attempted to educate players at a “much deeper level” about the automobiles some of them are driving. M’Pemba was driving a 2020 Dodge Durango when he was stopped by cops. Rosemy-Jacksaint was driving a Dodge Charger when he was “weaving through traffic while going at a high rate of speed,” according to police.Carter was driving a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk when police alleged he was racing LeCroy’s SUV. Carter, a first-round choice of the Chicago Bears in April’s NFL draft, pleaded no contest on March 16 to misdemeanor charges of careless driving and racing. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a$1,000 fine and 80 hours of community service and will participate in a state-approved defensive driving course.” NIL has given a few of our players– and players in general–

the capability to get most likely much faster [automobiles],”Smart stated.”It’s not necessarily just the volume of the speeding tickets, it’s the speed of the speeding tickets. Which’s a larger issue to me– the speed of the speeding tickets. Because high speeds, according to the Georgia State Patrol, which talked with our team, is where you get bigger mishaps. That’s the greatest concern we have in regard to that.”Smart said players have actually been disciplined internally for speeding citations. When players were returning to campus after the July 4th holiday, coaches texted them, urging them to return securely and be careful.” I want that we could prevent speeding concerns and gain from a horrific and tragic occasion,

“Smart said.” I’m still wrestling with that, and we discuss it as a staff and all the important things we can do. We have actually got issues with traffic citations and speeding problems that we need to enhance on. We need to get better at those, and I’m constantly looking and searching for that. “