ATHENS — In the past, Kirby Smart has received calls in the middle of the night. This one, he said, came at 7 o’clock in the morning.
Another one of his players was in trouble with the law. Colbie Young, a junior wide receiver and first-year transfer from Miami, was arrested overnight Tuesday and charged with battery and assault on an unborn child. Young spent over nine hours in the Athens-Clarke County Jail before being released on a $3,150 bond at 1:36 p.m. Tuesday. Through his attorney, Young proclaimed his innocence.
Over time, that will be determined through the legal system. As for now, the Bulldogs’ football program under Smart stands accused in the court of public opinion of being run amok with troublemakers.
Smart recognizes that — even if he doesn’t agree with it.
Asked Tuesday night after practice about the Bulldogs’ latest run-in with the law, Georgia’s ninth-year coach seemed at his wits’ end. Smart was less evasive and more contrite compared with previous exchanges on this subject.
“When you have 130 17- to 23-year-olds, you’re going to have issues,” Smart said following Tuesday’s practice for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State. “It’s not going to be perfect, and I certainly recognize we’ve got to do a better job. But it’s hard. It’s hard on our staff because we’ve got really good kids. We’ve got really good people, man. You just want them to make better decisions as men off the field. And, you know, I take a lot of responsibility in that.”
Smart didn’t have anything to say about the specific incident that resulted in police being called to Young’s Athens apartment at 12:57 a.m. Tuesday because “it’s a pending legal matter.”
“It’s a very sensitive matter, a tough thing to deal with,” Smart said. “He’s not with us today. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him.”
Police said a woman described as Young’s ex-girlfriend suffered bruises to one arm and her midsection when Young forcibly removed her from his apartment during an argument. Young’s Athens lawyer Kim Stephens claimed his client “did not make any contact with her in any way that could ever be considered a crime” and added he expects Young to be “fully exonerated once our investigation is complete and the truth revealed.”
What Smart does know is he finds himself once again standing at a dais defending his program and its methods. Most recently, that has surrounded a multitude of player arrests for reckless driving and excessive speeding. Those incidents number more than two dozen since January 2023, when two members of the football program were killed in a high-speed, alcohol-related accident that police said involved racing.
Smart also has had to recently deal with a player accused of domestic battery or family violence. Former Bulldogs receiver Rodarius “Rara” Thomas was dismissed from the team Aug. 1 following a second arrest on family-violence charges. A senior from Eufaula, Alabama, Thomas was charged with cruelty to children-family violence, a second-degree felony, and two misdemeanor counts of battery-family violence. His case is pending in Superior Court.
Smart is particularly frustrated by charges involving domestic relations because he said UGA Athletics spends considerable time and resources educating his players on the subject.
“It’s one of probably the most critical things we do,” Smart said. “Over the history of my nine years being here, it’s probably the most spoken-on thing we have. We have people come over from EOO (Equal Opportunity Office) on campus every year, and (associate athletic director) Darrice (Griffin) does a great job of finding the speakers. … We bring in outside speakers, we call NFL teams, and ‘Miss Mac’ (Sandra McDonald) from Atlanta does a great job. She comes over and shares with our student-athletes and talks to them and even does some role-play, putting guys in situations. I’ll be honest with you, in my years of coaching, it’s probably been the hardest thing to deal with.”
Smart has dealt with even more serious situations. Two rape charges against outside linebacker Adam Anderson were reduced to sexual battery last year, and he was sentenced to a year in prison. Rape charges against graduate assistant coach Bacarri Rambo were dismissed in 2022.
Ahkil Crumpton, who played receiver for Smart in 2017-18, currently is serving 30 years in federal prison on charges related to a murder he is accused of committing in 2021.
Crumpton also was a transfer. He came to UGA from a junior college in California.
Smart said he does not believe transfers coming to Georgia out of the NCAA’s portal are more susceptible to getting into trouble. All, he said, are subjected to thorough background checks.
“I actually feel more comfortable over a portal kid because I’m getting real-time information,” Smart said. “He’s lived outside of his home and been on his own for maybe a year, maybe two years, maybe three years, maybe four years. But I feel like you get better information on those guys than you do sometimes on a high school kid.”
Ultimately, wherever Georgia’s players are from, their actions both on the field and off are a reflection of the head coach and the institution.
“It’s tough, but that’s the cost of leadership,” Smart said. “Like, you’re going to be judged by the people you lead, and you’ve got to stand up and face it and do right by the kids and keep trying to find a better way.”
