Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Options
Kirby Smart discusses tragic crash, program culture and emotional struggles with ESPN
System
Posts: 10,533 admin
Kirby Smart discusses tragic crash, program culture and emotional struggles with ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart is earning every penny of the $4 million raise he received this past offseason, first winning a second national title and now working crisis management.
Comments
Yes, Kirby is earning his pay for sure. But, boys will be boys, and I did probably as much if not more silly & borderline illegal things when I was at school in Athens. Honestly, I'm probably lucky to be alive. Heck, Discovery Channel's "Street Outlaws" is one of its most popular shows about illegal street racing.
The traffic accident was tragic and unfortunate. I'm certainly not condoning the behavior, but I think this is all getting more attention than it's worth.
I have no doubt that UGA and Kirby Smart are doing everything they can do to educate these young men.
God bless everyone involved in the accident, and LeCroy’s family.
All well and good with the counseling and support, Coach, but it might be more effective if some repeat offenders were suspended and multiple offenders released all together. No need to worry about them, Auburn’s always looking for those sort of guys. Also, you and your program are too **** good to need a harem of beautiful young “recruiting analysts;” if a guy can’t look beyond that and see where the Dawgs will take him, we don’t need him.
@MontanaDawg I have to disagree with you. Two lives were lost and another's future is in jeopardy due to reckless car racing. This story has been covered widely and rightly so.
@ScoreCheck...Understand your position, but there are SO many other similar kind of accidents and tragic stories that are going on both on and off campuses around the country that we never much hear about. If it didn't involve a high profile team and players, there would have been so much less coverage & fanfare. We all know that. Street racing goes on all the time, and we let shows like "Street Outlaws" promote it!! I'm just sayin' you're not going to change behavior for those who want to do this sort of thing.
Now, a good question to ask is - is the NIL "culture" and elitism it promotes leading to more situations like this? Or did these young college kids just take it a bit too far celebrating a great National Championship?
The "I did it and worse" and the "boys will be boys" mentality is part of the overlying problem. It excuses the behavior as normal, and without any consequences, they will continue it. That's like saying "My dad beat my mom, so it's not a big deal if I beat my wife or my son beats his girlfriend". At some point, grownups have to be grownups and try and break the cycle of bad behavior instead of brushing it off and excusing it. How publicized this has been is irrelevant to the danger of the behavior or the outcomes that have been felt. If no news had ever reported any of this, it would still have been an issue, and Carter's 90 in a 45 illustrates it. Georgia staff didn't know, were not able to get him help, and it ultimately contributed to 2 people dying. The time for excuses are over.
Many of us probably can remember the Miami dynasty a few decades ago. If memory serves me, they too had a “ culture problem” according to the press. And that was way before social media was around to explode all misfortunes.
it seems like a spotlight causes increased eyes on everything you do.
Culture this and culture that. The problem is people. Individuals are responsible for their actions. One of the problems in which we live is a media driven frenzied society that accepts very little responsibility for its decisions and actions and seeks ways to avoid owning responsibility and diligently seeks to find a way to project the blame onto someone or something else. This attitude is everywhere. It has been made worse through social media. The University of Georgia football program does not have a culture problem. It has standards to which individuals are expected to submit. There are laws in place to protect public safety. Laws are in place for the common good and violating them is not simply "making a mistake." The use of "mistake" is a cop out. People normally, willingly, decide what they are going to do and act upon it. Out of a crowd or a team of one hundred there will be some who will think and act destructively. No human being is beyond acting foolishly and destructively (self included). I am certain that the University of Georgia constantly exhorts its players to focus on the right things. Unfortunately along the way there are casualties for those who decide and act differently. This stuff will not go away. Wrong behaviour should not get a pass. The University of Georgia and Coach Smart are doing a very good job of mentoring young men.
Coach Smart and his staff can create standards to build a culture that is expected of character players. However, it is up to the individual whether they respect the standards and the culture which is set. It is all about integrity. Doing the right things when no one is looking. We players getting in trouble off the field, integrity is what the culture is missing.
Culture drives results. Kirby has undeniably created a culture of winning at UGA. Kirby and his staff put every ounce of energy of themselves into recruitment, development and support of their football players and their team. Kirby owns a winning culture.
In contrast, he "talks" to his players about "....drugs and alcohol, talked about gambling, talk about racing in cars and high speeds." Let's recognize that a winning culture does not exist because Kirby talked about it. It exists because he lives it every day.
Kirby may be developing outstanding football players, but the level of development of young men with integrity and accountability is questionable.
Ultimately, the responsibility does reside with the individual and his/her actions, but a coach has the ability and responsibility to mold and guide those individuals into the type of young men and women that we expect.
If we simply want a football factory, Kirby's work is done. If we want a program that represents the values we expect, Kirby's work is only beginning.
"Kirby may be developing outstanding football players, but the level of development of young men with integrity and accountability is questionable.
Ultimately, the responsibility does reside with the individual and his/her actions, but a coach has the ability and responsibility to mold and guide those individuals into the type of young men and women that we expect.
If we simply want a football factory, Kirby's work is done. If we want a program that represents the values we expect, Kirby's work is only beginning."
It is not that simple. People do not always do the right thing even if they know what the right thing is. Don't think for a moment that Kirby and the program is negligent in drilling proper behaviour into the guys. I am sure that he carries a heavy burden from some of these train wrecks. Human beings struggle by different degrees from time to time in doing what is best for others instead of self. This world is an imperfect place filled with imperfect people.