DALLAS — On a day when Georgia head coach Kirby Smart hoped to be discussing how his football team would play in the upcoming season, Smart was once again discussing his team’s off-field behavior.

In speaking to a group of reporters at SEC media days in Dallas, Smart offered his first public comments after linebacker Smael Mondon and offensive lineman Bo Hughley were both arrested last week in separate driving-related incidents.

“The incidents we’ve had off the field are not something that we condone,” Smart said. “Very unfortunate, disappointing I guess is the best word. I always talk about process and outcomes. I talk about that in wins and losses, that we try not to base things on the outcomes in wins and losses. In this situation, the outcomes are very disappointing. Our process and the things we’ve put in place, I feel very strongly about. We do as much or more education than anybody in the country. We have discipline in the form of suspensions and we will continue to do so. We’ll have suspensions coming out of some of these.”

This is not the first time this year Smart has had to address his team’s behavior. In March, running back Trevor Etienne was arrested on multiple charges. That case was recently resolved. Wide receiver Sacovie White was arrested in May on a reckless driving charge as well.

Hughley was arrested last Tuesday on charges of reckless driving and failure to maintain lane. Georgia teammate Ellis Robinson was in the car with Hughley at the time of the arrest, which took place on Georgia’s campus.

Mondon was arrested the next day on racing and reckless driving charges. It was later learned that teammate DeMello Jones was also issued a citation for the incident, but Jones was not arrested.

Both players were released on bond for $26. Hughley redshirted in his first year on campus. Mondon is a senior linebacker and someone expected to play a big role for the Bulldogs in 2024.

Smart did not share any specific updates on the availability of Mondon and Hughley as it pertains to Georgia’s season-opening game against Clemson. The Bulldogs open the 2024 season against the Tigers on Aug. 31.

“We don’t talk about the suspensions. We have them,” Smart said. “I think it’s pretty obvious that we’ve done them in the past. You guys know when we do them. Each of those cases is very different and they’ll be handled in different ways.”

Both players did miss spring practice, with Mondon recovering from foot surgery and Hughley dealing with a shoulder injury.

Since January of 2023, Georgia has had 24 driving-related citations issued. It marks the second straight year that Smart has had to discuss off-field behavior at SEC media days, as it has been a continuous problem for the program.

In January of 2023, Georgia football player Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy lost their life in a car wreck that occurred just hours after Georgia finished celebrating a national championship.

Smart went on to stress that Georgia wants to do what is best for his players and that the program is trying to be proactive, rather than reactive.

“Everybody wants to know what game and are they suspended,” Smart said. “That’s probably not the most important thing in terms of the discipline and culture they’ve got to experience. As far as I know, there’s not one team that has ever suspended a player for a traffic violation. That’s what Marcus Rosemy got suspended for. I don’t know that anybody has kicked anybody off the team for that, and we have that. We’re going to continue to be proactive. It’s repeated behaviors that will get you dismissed.”

As for how Georgia is trying to prevent further arrests, Smart did mention the Classic City Collective is fining players.

“We’re searching and trying to find the best ways,” Smart said. “I still think the best way is proactive and not reactive. Education, which we’ve done. Defensive driving courses, which we’ve implemented. And for the first time ever in my career, we’ve got kids that have six-hour driving sessions that just got licenses and may not be good drivers. Some of this is poor decisions and some of it is poor driving. And when you challenge somebody and you have to have a six hour driving course with a driver in like driver’s ed, my kids are 16. We put them through that and it certainly helped. We’re implementing that to a lot of guys that they either requested or we think needed.”