Georgia football driving reckless issue

ATHENS — Georgia football is tackling a serious off-field issue once more after current players were involved in incidents related to racing and reckless driving charges earlier this week.

Projected starting linebacker Smael Mondon and freshman defensive back Demello Jones were charged with racing on streets/highways in Athens on Wednesday.

Kirby Smart has yet to comment on the most recent incident, but the Georgia head coach will surely be asked when he goes before media on Tuesday morning at the SEC Media Days event in Dallas.

It’s an issue Smart and the University of Georgia have taken seriously when working in close collaboration with the school’s support unit leaders.

A source close to the football program revealed UGA utilizes its unit leaders in sports medicine, mental health and performance, sports nutrition, compliance and the UGA police department in delivering frequent critical life skills programming.

More changes could be on the way, as Georgia officials have vowed to maintain a progressive approach to dealing with the modern-day challenges this current model of collegiate athletics presents.

The current specific programming, per the source, includes annual fall training camp curriculum with both internal and external experts concentrating on:

• Drugs and Alcohol (Special emphasis on marijuana this year, given the new NCAA drug policy changes with a consultant who has provided mandatory multi-layered education to all head coaches, assistant coaches, and all student-athletes).

• Healthy relationships and consent

• Community conduct

• Vehicle and traffic safety in partnership with local authorities from UGAPD and ACCPD

• Mental Health

• Leadership

• Real-time lessons focusing on relevant examples and stories highlighting teachable moments

The recent driving incident with Mondon was particularly disappointing for some, as the senior returning starter has been in a leadership position as one of the accomplished veterans on the team that have contributed to the program’s string of three consecutive undefeated regular seasons entering the 2024 campaign.

Mondon was among players Athens officers at the scene of the Jan. 15, 2023 fatal wreck sought information from after UGA lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy died in a vehicle crash that was alleged to have involved reckless driving and racing.

The tragic accident occurred some 12 hours after the team celebrated its second consecutive national championship with a campus parade and ceremony at Sanford Stadium.

“After the season it took away light from the national championship,” Former UGA player and current Philadelphia Eagles tailback Kendall Milton said, “and it put all the focus on those situations, because that’s what was most important in the moment … "

The Bulldogs players dedicated last season to Willock, sharing their “Do it for Dev” slogan during spring drills, their hearts still heavy with the loss.

“I don’t know that we can ever eradicate speeding; I don’t know that that’s possible,” Smart said last July. “But I’m going to damn sure try. I’ll try my best because I don’t think what we’re doing right now has been effective enough.”

Smart and UGA maintained a proactive stance, and the players in the program appeared to have gone some seven months without a similar instance before defensive backs Joenel Aguero and Justin Rhett were cited for speeding in Dodge Chargers on Feb. 16 going 59 mph in a 40 mph zone.

That incident, like the most recent one involving Mondon (in a Dodge Charger) and Jones (Porsche Panamera), occurred on West Broad Street in Athens.

Smart said he wasn’t going to blame NIL for the driving incidents, but he acknowledged the money players come by earlier in their careers, and the relative inexperience many have behind the wheel, are factors.

“(NIL money has) given them the ability to have a higher horsepower car …. absolutely,” Smart said last July. “That’s a microcosm of our society and the age group that we’re talking about that does that

“It is a tough situation to manage when you have 18- to-22 year old men, a lot of them driving for the first time,” Smart said. " Every fall we have 25 new guys. We’ve averaged five guys who come here at 18 years old with no driver’s license, and we continue to work at it.”

It’s an issue that has arisen in other collegiate programs, and even more recently at the NFL level. Minnesota Vikings rookie and former Alabama and Oregon player Khyree Jackson was among three killed in a Dodge Charger after a high speed car crash involving two other vehicles on Saturday, six months removed from his collegiate career.

One year later, it’s remains a work in progress, albeit with more internal team policies in place, including the potential for suspensions.

Georgia opens the season at noon on Aug. 31 against Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.