Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, AD Josh Brooks on team's dangerous driving

After an Athens Clarke-County police officer placed handcuffs on Georgia wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint for driving 90 miles per hour in a 45 MPH zone on May 23, he asked him if he was an athlete. “Yes sir,” he said. “What do you play?” asked the officer who pulled Rosemy-Jacksaint over in front of the McAlister’s Deli on West Broad Street in a 2020 Dodge Charger. “Football.” “Really?” the officer said, according to bodycam footage. “Y’all are still speeding, huh, after all this?” Nearly six months after offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed in an early morning, high-speed crash on Jan. 15, Georgia football players continue to be arrested and cited by police for driving too fast in dangerous incidents this offseason. “I don’t know if we can ever eradicate speeding, I don’t know if that’s possible, but I’m going to damn sure try because I don’t think that what we’re doing right now has been effective enough,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday. He added: “It’s one of the things we want to manage but it’s a tough situation to manage when you have 18 to 22 year old men and a lot of them are driving for the first time. …We continue to work on that. I don’t have the exact answer. I wish I did.” Smart spoke before reporters at a unique press conference called to address off-field issues surrounding the program during an offseason where many aspects of the program and its policies have come under intense scrutiny following the crash that came days after a second straight national title. Athletic director Josh Brooks, deputy athletic director Darrice Griffin and UGA Equal Opportunity Office/Title IX coordinator Qiana Wilson sat at the same table as Smart. Sitting in the audience was Michael Raeber, general counsel for the UGA Athletic Association. UGA athletics sent a letter to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday demanding a retraction for a June 27 article with the headline “UGA football program rallies when players accused of abusing women.” UGA claims the article is “replete with errors, unsubstantiated allegations, innuendo and possibly even fabrications.” The AJC reported that 11 players in Smart’s seven seasons remained with the program after women had alleged abuse to police or the university. One, defensive tackle Jamaal Jarrett, a 16-year old at the time, was investigated for sexual assault during a 2022 official visit but police did not charge him. Smart said he considered not signing Jarrett if he was to be charged, but he wasn't. He’ll begin his first season at Georgia this fall. "I can handle a lot of talk, but what I cannot and will not tolerate is false allegations that this program or this university condones sexual misconduct," Smart said. UGA asked the AJC reporter for the names of all 11 players, according to a letter it sent, but he did not supply them. The AJC did not respond Tuesday afternoon to a request for comment about the UGA letter. "The AJC is reviewing the letter," it said on its website in a posting it titled "UGA challenges AJC reporting." More: 'The players know what the punishment is': UGA football's Kirby Smart on recent arrests The press conference came one week before Smart will make the rounds at SEC Media Days in Nashville and surely will face questions about headlines that have followed his program in recent months including the crash that was connected to former star player Jalen Carter. Brooks, who has met with some players individually after driving incidents, said Wednesday speeding “is a problem we continue to address.” The officer who arrested Rosemy-Jacksaint told him he was in the traffic unit and worked on the Carter case. Carter, the Eagles’ first-round draft pick, pleaded no contest to racing and reckless driving. Police said Carter raced LeCroy who drove 104 miles per hour and had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. ”Yeah, man, it’s crazy how much y’all are speeding around here,” the officer told Rosemy-Jacksaint. “I think you would feel terrible if you got your buddy hurt who was in your car (a teammate), just like what happened to him. He wasn’t even driving.” Willock’s father and his estate are seeking $40 million in a wrongful death civil lawsuit from the UGA Athletic Association and others. Smart made mention of the latest incident of freshman linebacker Samuel M’Pemba cited for speeding on the morning of July 5 for going 88 in a 55 driving north on 441 in Oconee County. M'Pemba told police he was on his way to a 10:30 a.m. class after driving back from Tallahassee. “You can’t be going freaking 90 miles an hour on a two-way, right?,” the police officer told him, according to bodycam video. More: Sizing up Georgia football's rather large offensive line haul in 2024 recruiting class Smart said coaches called and sent texts to players to be careful coming back from the July 4 holiday. Also in Oconee County, wide receiver De’Nylon Morrisette was arrested for DUI drugs, driving too fast for conditions, and following too closely after his 2019 Dodge Charger hit the back of a 2022 Subaru Outback at 3:30 a.m. on May 8 on East University Parkway. The female driver was treated for unspecified injuries in an ambulance on scene. She told police she was going 65 on cruise control, listening to music while driving to work. Morrisette’s vehicle was not drivable, an officer said on bodycam footage. The woman’s car was missing a wheel after the collision. Police said “a strong smell of weed was coming out of the car,” driven by Morrisette. Christen Miller, a redshirt freshman defensive lineman, was cited in Oconee County for speeding on March 25 for going 95 miles per hour in a 65 MPH zone in a 2012 Audi, according to records. Smart said he’s most concerned with how fast his players are going when cited for speeding. “High speeds, according to Georgia State Patrol, who talked to our team, is where you get bigger accidents,” Smart said. “That’s the biggest concern we have.” Morrissette was already cited for going 81 in a 45 on Epps Bridge Parkway on Feb. 23. “Y’all got to slow down,” the officer told him then. “We’ve been getting all of y’all a lot. You obviously know about the other wreck and stuff. Y’all got to slow down. I’m sure Kirby wouldn’t be happy about all this. Especially 81 in a 45.” Georgia football players and their cars were involved in at least 10 reports of traffic-related moving violations in Athens-Clarke County since the Jan. 15 fatal crash, ESPN.com reported on June 14. The AJC reported that running back Kendall Milton has been cited five times since enrolling in 2022 including going 92 in a 64 last year. Defensive back Javon Bullard was cited three times including the DUI last year that brought a one game suspension. Cornerback Kelee Ringo was pulled over for going 91 in a 65 last October and got a warning, but then six days later was ticketed for doing 94 on the same road. Georgia outside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson pleaded guilty to reckless driving for a Jan. 10 incident in which police alleged he was racing another car at 75 miles per hour on College Station Road. A racing charge was dismissed. Rosemy-Jacksaint was cited twice for speeding in Florida for going 60 in a 40 MPH zone on May 15 and for going 71 in a 40 on May 16. “I f*** up,” he said before he was booked in Athens. Smart said: “We got issues with traffic citations and speeding issues that we have to improve upon. …It’s been a real tough offseason, if you want to know the truth, because the way it kicked off and the way it started.” Smart said he’s trying “to correct and we have to make tough decisions on case by case basis, what that is to try and make that right." He said his team is a “very cohesive group and you only grow through adversity, and we’ve had our share of adversity.”