“Crime Culture”. That is what Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs were labeled when Rara Thomas was arrested because of some serious charges, and all hell broke loose for Smart. Around 29 people (players and staff combined) had been arrested beforehand, and Smart failed to take any action to prevent these issues or maintain a proper balance back at camp. Fox Sports Aaron Torres dragged Smart through the mud as he asked the HC to finally take charge and fix the issues. While On3 did break the news back on August 1st that Smart has decided to dismiss Rara Thomas, a cloud of doubt still seemed to loom over the team.
And now during a press conference after the fall camp, DawgNation brings us a video of Smart addressing what he’s going to do with Smael Mondon Jr and Trevor Etienne. “Smael had his charges dismissed….Trevor as well, looking at any first game suspensions as a result of all of that?” a reporter had asked. Smart had a simple reply, “Yeah, we’ll deal with all that when it comes to it.” Back in July, Mondon and Demello Jones were arrested and charged with reckless driving and battery. However, recent news highlighted that the authorities dropped the charges against the players and cited them with 29 counts of citations. Etienne, on the other hand, was charged with DUI back in March. Now all of this puts Smart in a tough spot. With the fall camp over, the team is already dealing with massive injuries to the O-line. The boys on the team are bruised and drained. If the HC does follow through with suspensions for the players, it would put the Bulldogs at a massive disadvantage against the Tigers.
Even back on August 15th, Kevin Coleman and Christian Williams mentioned some really important points regarding Bulldogs and Smart. “We see those defensive linemen getting after guys—they didn’t have that last year,” Coleman had noted. While last year was a solid run for Smart, their defense was still in shambles. This year, with the injury scenario, it looks like the same problems they faced back in 2023 will come back to haunt the team again. However, looks like Kirby Smart has a solution for all of this.
Depth over chemistry
During the same press conference, Smart revealed a risky tactic he has decided to latch onto to help his team out. “At the expense of chemistry, we want to have depth,” Smart had noted. The main goal was to focus on player skill and depth over chemistry between the boys. This would give the team a significant edge even if some of the players were too battered or exhausted. The main goal is to protect Carson Beck, and we already heard from Smart himself that after the scrimmage, many players have shown significant improvement in their skills.
Nitro Tuggle, Michael Jackson, Gunner Stockton, and Jaden Rashada are some names that have grown in terms of their depth. Smart even went on to say, “We’ve done a really good job.” Now we have to wait and watch if all of this translated well during their opener against the Clemson Tigers.
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