Despite latest arrest, Georgia insists it doesn’t have discipline problem
Note: There will be a “Ten at 10″ this week but it has been moved to Wednesday . . .
ATHENS — After having one of their better years in a while in regard to off-field problems for players, trouble is starting to stack up a little for Georgia.
Branden Smith’s arrest for marijuana possession in South Alabama Sunday night represented the second arrest of UGA football player this year — cornerback Sanders Commings was arrested for a domestic violence incident in January — and third if one counts tight end Orson Charles’ arrest for DUI last week (Charles declared for the NFL draft and not an official member of the team).
And that’s just players who have run into trouble from the law. Head coach Mark Richt dismissed three players from the team in January for stealing from a teammate.
But Richt doesn’t believe there is a lack of discipline in the program and contends that the Bulldogs are stricter than most programs when it comes to keeping players in line.
“When guys do make mistakes, two things are very important: How we handle it and how he handles it,” Richt said. “Are we going to discipline our players the way they ought to be disciplined according to what they’ve done? I think we do that. I think we do that more strictly than most people do. If you look at other people’s policies, ours is much tougher than just about anybody other’s pocliy I’ve seen. So because some of our guys end up with a game suspension or whatever it may be, a kid at another school may do the very same thing and their policy doesn’t say that it has to be that way. I mean, I don’t care what they do. All I’m saying is I think it’s important how you handle it.”
Unlike many programs, UGA’s punishments are written down in black and white in the Student-Athlete Handbook. For instance, in the case of Smith’s arrest for marijuana possession, that falls under UGA’s codes for “alcohol and drug-related misconduct.” That means an automatic suspension from 10 percent of competition dates (in this case one game), future drug-testing, education and counseling and additional discipline as determined by what’s called the “Comprehensive Action Plan Committee.”
Said Richt: “Our goal when our guys make mistakes is to find out the truth about it and then discipline it properly. The second thing that is important is how they respond to it. If they learn from their mistakes and become better people because of it, then that’s a positive thing in that guy’s life. If he’s not truthful about it and acts like he didn’t do anything wrong and his behavior isn’t going to change in any way shape or form, then he’s probably not going to be at Georgia very long. That’s just kind of the way things go. To think every single guy is not ever going to make a mistake and be perfect, I don’t think is realistic. It’s certainly what we search for. Is it frustrating? Yes, it is.”
Adding to Richt’s frustration was the timing of the Smith’s incident. Just last week, Athletic Director Greg McGarity assembled every UGA student-athlete at the Georgia Center for Continuing Educaton to talk about the importance of good behavior during the upcoming spring break (which began this week). The football team followed that up with a separate meeting of their own. So it’s not like the issue wasn’t addressed.
“Oh yeah, we always do,” Richt said. “We ought to video those [meetings] just to make sure everybody knows we do that.”
Ultimately, it comes down to the character of the players the coaches recruit to campus. I asked McGarity how much he held coaches responsible for their players’ behavior.
“Accountability is a foregone conclusion,” McGarity said. “You hold coaches accountable in every sport for their entire program. That’s just part of the deal, just like I’m accountable for every employee. I’m accountable for 250 full-time staff members. So we’re all accountable to someone and that language is currently in [Richt's] contract right now.”
– Chip Towers, The UGA Blog
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262 comments Add your comment
ole dawg
March 13th, 2012
11:30 am
@ The Tide is rolling: THANK YOU for opening that big fat mouthj of your’s and showing us your ignorance. If you’ll learn to keep that trap shut we wouldn’t know how ignorant you are.
GTBob
March 13th, 2012
11:32 am
How come UGA players ALWAYS make the front page of sports for any infraction but TECH players are shooting gunss out of the car and it’s burired in the sports section?
That incident did make the front page when it happened and Rice didn’t shoot a gun, some moron in the backseat did. Either way he should be kicked off the team.
Big Crimson 75
March 13th, 2012
11:35 am
beanster — You said it — not me.
Out of 120 Players on the Roster — including walk-ons — 13 were from GA. That’s 9.2%
Look it up — I’m not your search engine.
Burdell
March 13th, 2012
11:42 am
Sure am glad I never got pulled over on my way to college Spring Break…just sayin’…I’d have been in a little more trouble than this kid.
Remain calm, all is well!!!!
March 13th, 2012
11:45 am
A few isolated incidents. No pattern here.
Remain calm, all is well!!!!
March 13th, 2012
11:48 am
We won 10 games in a row last year. Things are good.
GTBob
March 13th, 2012
11:50 am
Sure am glad I never got pulled over on my way to college Spring Break…just sayin’…I’d have been in a little more trouble than this kid.
I love how every UGA fans excuse for player arrests is to point out how much worse they were when they were in college. Next week there will be a story about a UGA player robbing a convenient store, which will be followed by blog posts bragging about how many stores they robbed when they were young.
Dick Gizinia
March 13th, 2012
11:52 am
How come UGA players ALWAYS make the front page of sports for any infraction but TECH players are shooting gunss out of the car and it’s burired in the sports section?
Its those darn 4 star athletes that Uga gets. They come to Tech wanting to buy some Tech Lab Experiment crippy, and during the bag for money exchange they grab the bag and run without paying. Of course there’s gonna be gunfire. Just another typical bulldog degenerate criminal!
Nic S.
March 13th, 2012
11:57 am
A few isolated incidents you say. Well, that would be true if this was the first time this had happened, but when it happens year after year after year, then I believe that would qualify as a definate pattern. CMR gets a big fat extension for being an underacheiving head coach who does less with more than any other coach I can think of, and who has a huge disclipine problem within his program. It is sad to see this happen each year.
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
11:59 am
Really stupid. Pulled over for tailgating and tag light not working. Really stupid if you’re smoking weed or even drinking beer. Cop smells weed. They had to have been smoking it for the cop to smell it. REALLY stupid. Smoking weed messes with depth perception (voice of experience). Tailgating anyone? Alcohol in excess impairs driving. Two guys smoking one doobie impairs driving as much as blowing .09 for alcohol. That’s why we should care. Don’t be STUPID! Get there then get wasted. REALLY!
RxDawg
March 13th, 2012
12:01 pm
“Next week there will be a story about a UGA player robbing a convenient store”
Nice jump from a misdamenor of possesion to armed robery. Bob, your intellegence is strong in some areas but lacking in others. But I understand you wanting to associate college players and illegal weapons being a Tech fan and all.
Rusty
March 13th, 2012
12:03 pm
Hey Tech and Alabama Bloggers,
Go find your own blogs.
No one cares about Tech-PERIOD. A Tech fan making fun of UGA is like a special ed kid making fun of you, it’s tough to figure out why they are making fun of anything but whatever….
And Alabama people, we are all so impressed with your superiority to us all and how great everything is over there, I’m sure this good run ya’ll are on will last forever and ever.
what of it?
March 13th, 2012
12:05 pm
I honestly don’t think Richt understands discipline. Discipline can be punishment, but the whole point of discipline is to train players and instill pride and respect. it starts on the field before problems occur, and judging by our on-field discipline, there is none. Disciplined players and programs don’t disrespect themselves and their program the way these Georgia players do every year.
WDE
March 13th, 2012
12:06 pm
@Fill Fulmer hey its your trophy to lose every year, none of our bunch have put any cops in the hospital or knocked off a 7-11 or a entire trailer park….so get back to me when we top that .
beanster
March 13th, 2012
12:09 pm
Look Douchy, your 9.2% figure doesn’t jive well with my sole intention which was to insult the state of Alabama (in retaliation, see comment #1, same story different day). I am glad you have a calculator nearby.
Any time I think of a Bama fan, I can’t get the picture of the O’Doyle family in Billy Madison out of my mind. Big ol fat morons that all have red hair (see limited gene pool) who walk around beating their chests spouting their slogans (but instead of ‘O’Doyle Rules’ it’s ‘Roll Tide’).
I particularly like the last scene with the O’Doyle family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsNgRmsx-14
PhD in History
March 13th, 2012
12:09 pm
1980
•Failed U.S. Rescue Attempt to Save Hostages in Tehran
•John Lennon Assassinated
•Mount St. Helens Erupts
•Pac-Man Video Game Released
•Rubik’s Cube Becomes Popular
•Ted Turner Establishes CNN
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
12:10 pm
BIG CRIMSON—-dummy. 12 would = 10% of 120! DUMMY!!
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
12:11 pm
13 = 9.2% of 120! DUMMY!!!!!
SEC Observer
March 13th, 2012
12:13 pm
Georgia seems to always have a player in the news. This just doesn’t happen as often at other schools.
Obviously Richt’s leadership is not resolving the discipline issue.
WDE
March 13th, 2012
12:13 pm
@Nic S.hey didn’t you just have a player declare for the draft and get busted for pot the next day….brick meet glass house…
PhD in History
March 13th, 2012
12:14 pm
1980
Average Cost of new house $68,700
Median Price Of and Existing Home $62,200
Average Income per year $19,500.00
Average Monthly Rent $300.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.19
Average cost new car $7,200.00
Men’s Casual Shirt $14.00
GTBob
March 13th, 2012
12:16 pm
Nice jump from a misdamenor of possesion to armed robery.
It was an analogy that was highlighting the ignorance of UGA fans who think they can excuse the unlawfulness of football players by talking about how bad they are or were. I’m sorry you missed it.
Tossed Salad
March 13th, 2012
12:17 pm
Actually, Dynamic, the PD in Gainesville has been pretty consistent when it comes to football players not getting special treatment. The boys in Tuscaloosa, though, have made sweeping things under the rug an art form. More power to them.
Red Stick
March 13th, 2012
12:18 pm
PhD, I think you need to add Ronald Reagan being elected as President a significant event in 1980.
FWIW, I thought Mizzou had no chance of beating the Dawgs but if Branden Smith is out I would start to be concerned as UGA will be awfully thin in the secondary.
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
12:18 pm
1980=bag of weed=$40 for 1 oz. Panama Red or Maui Poui or $50=1 oz sensamia=great highs!!!!!!!!!!
UGASlobberknocker
March 13th, 2012
12:19 pm
It must be tough living in or being from a state where there is absolutely NOTHING going on except football. Forget the kids (Bear and Bama are their names), forget the job at the chicken plucking factory..forget Ole Blue and the rest of the dogs under the porch of the double wide. By God only one thing matters:
“We is Bama and Bama is all that matters”. It is pathertic.
Do you morons realize that 49 states find your football obsession not only weird but a little creepy? You Bama fans are the butt of jokes and you dont even know it. You are probably proud that Forrest Gump was portrayed as a Bama player when the rest of the country laughs as that is the only place Forest could get in.Even the national commentators on the news speaking of the Alabama primary were making cracks about the place. Isnt that embarasssing to you people?
I want the Dawgs to win as much as the Tide does, but if it comes with the repuation of the people who pull for the Tide..No thanks.
Bammer
March 13th, 2012
12:19 pm
“The boys in Tuscaloosa, though, have made sweeping things under the rug an art form. More power to them.”
Ahahahahaha!!!! It took almost two whole pages for someone to trot this excuse out. What took ya so long?
UGA: Where deflection, denail and rationalization are taken to never before seen levels!
Remain calm, all is well!!!!
March 13th, 2012
12:20 pm
Nic, it was meant as sarcasm.
Bammer
March 13th, 2012
12:22 pm
Slobberknocker this is a FOOTBALL blog. Did the all-caps help you understand? When we want to comment on the situation in the MIddle East we’ll go to another blog. Pretty simple, huh?
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
12:24 pm
denail??? What does that mean??? Is that how bamalamadingdong says “the nail”??? DENIAL!!!!!
BiggDawgK
March 13th, 2012
12:24 pm
The ajc is notorious as being the worst site for anyone who actually wants to discuss sports. It is the 4chan of “sports” sites.
Bammer
March 13th, 2012
12:26 pm
Always a powerful comeback with the spelling critiques…on a blog. Guess that’s why ya’ll think you’re the “Harvard of the South”. What a joke.
Mike Bianchi
March 13th, 2012
12:27 pm
“The problem is this: Georgia fans have way too high of an opinion of their program. In fact, I believe an argument could be made that Georgia is the the most overrated program in college football history.”
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
12:28 pm
Bit dog barks 1st.
1 4 GT
March 13th, 2012
12:30 pm
If the shoe fits wear it!
7576DAWG
March 13th, 2012
12:31 pm
I can’t talk about other schools because I did not go there but I did graduate from UGA in the mid seventies and I may have been the only person around me that didn’t smoke pot. Both of my room mates smoke daily. Every apartment that I visited had pot in it . I was good friends with a few fraternities brother and frequently went to parties on the week-ins. There was more than a little pot smoking going on.
The problem exited in the seventies and they exist today. Don’t think I am condoning it because I just chose not to do it but I didn’t judge my friends if they want too and certainly didn’t stay away from them because they chose to smoke. Drugs at Georgia as well as other schools are a widespread problem so if some on here want to condemn the football players when they get caught because they are all under a microscope then you need to include the majority of the entire student body. Right or wrong those are the facts.
beanster
March 13th, 2012
12:33 pm
Mike Bianchi? You mean the loud mouth Yankee transplant whose ilk have consumed the state of Florida from Gainesville southwards (that is until you get to S. Florida which may as well be Cuba)?
How many pairs of jean shorts do you own, Mike Bianchi?
Snoop Dawg
March 13th, 2012
12:36 pm
Keep drinking that Koolaid, zombies. You have no choice now, at least through 2016… Tastes good when you drink it, but the morning after will wish you didn’t…
GTBob
March 13th, 2012
12:38 pm
Both of my room mates smoke daily. Every apartment that I visited had pot in it .
Here we go again. The everybody I ever knew was a pot head therefore the players didn’t do anything wrong excuse.
Rusty
March 13th, 2012
12:40 pm
GTBob,
Go away. If you really did attend GT you know nothing of real college life so shut up. If you didn’t, you’re an idiot for liking GT so shut up.
In Australia....
March 13th, 2012
12:44 pm
….the UGA program circles the drain in a counterclockwise direction. LMFAO!!!!
Concerned
March 13th, 2012
12:46 pm
Until the coaches, and more specific the head coach gains respect from the leaders on the team, this will continue.
Here is a way to handle this type of thing. Call all players back from Spring Break, and give them 24 hours to be on the field. Have a team meeting, and let them know that there will be no more 2 games suspensions for STUPID & DUMB. Tell them they will have to deal with this as a team, and if it means policing their own from within, then that is what needs to happen. The punishments are nothing for the guys that are dumb, but penalities for all since this is a team sport would open more eyes, and therefore the real leaders would clean house themsleves. When we reach that type of team, it will be then that Georgia can really contend for a Championship. I do not mean a East Crown, or an SEC Crown. I mean the Big Dance where the team is first, and the STUPID & DUMB boys are home on the sofa or in their hood doing what they do best, being real DOGS.
Now after several years of this………….yes Georgia does have a behavior problem, and it is on the HC who was just awarded FIVE MORE years. Why no respect or very little from so called student/athletes? The leaders know why, and find them and you will find your answers to why since we were pre-season # 1 it has really not worked.
It takes Couageous Men to lead, and ones who could care less about being liked. Is the HC liked or is he respected? You tell me……………….
old dog
March 13th, 2012
12:49 pm
7576 DAWG,
Not changing my tune, but you are right; I was there then, too, and Cheech and Chong woulda been happy for sure. Not condoning it now, just sayin’…………I think worse than the smoke tests is the cruddy behaviour and attitudes.
Joey
March 13th, 2012
12:54 pm
UGASlobberknocker, you have to admit, some of us Bulldog fans would probably get a little more obsessive and enthusiastic about UGA football if we had hired the best coach in the country, who started filling up the trophy case, instead of the guy we have . . .
Dick Gizinia
March 13th, 2012
12:58 pm
If you lived in the UGA dorms to play football http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geekologie.com/2008/07/11/redneck-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rednecks.tv/redneck-trailer/gallery&h=300&w=450&sz=46&tbnid=aVJojCyyVt16sM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=132&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dredneck%2Btrailer%2Bpictures%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=redneck+trailer+pictures&docid=ZLpwG4_lXaPH5M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RnxfT6jfGcn2ggf27PT1Bw&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ9QEwAQ&dur=2857
You would want weed to make it all good Dawg the other 7 months a year!
ChrisATL
March 13th, 2012
12:58 pm
Why is it that I see the same posters trashing UGA in the comments section of UGA articles? I’m sure there are some UGA fans that do the same but just doesn’t make any sense. Its tough for me to find enough time to read all I want about my school. How do these people find time to read articles on other schools and constantly post in the comments section? If you have so little going on that you spend that much time reading articles and commenting about schools you’re not a fan of then I would highly suggest finding something a little more productive to do with your time. You’re not going to have any constructive discussion on AJC comments sections.
K.Conway
March 13th, 2012
1:02 pm
Alabama has to come to Gerogia to recruit because most kids in Alabama can’t write or read!!
GTBob
March 13th, 2012
1:03 pm
Its tough for me to find enough time to read all I want about my school.
I can suggest some reading programs that can enhance your speed if you would like. Reading a blog that is less then a page isn’t exactly a time consuming process.
K.Conway
March 13th, 2012
1:04 pm
No Bama will notice my spelliing!
AthensDawg
March 13th, 2012
1:09 pm
Extending Richt was a dumb move. If you want Mediocrity then Richt is your man. Another 10-3 year to UGA again next year. Same old Sh*t every year from him and his team. An ALRIGHT year!!!!