The College Football National Championship isn’t the only goal Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs are chasing. While championships remain the ultimate prize, restoring and maintaining discipline within the Athens program has become just as important. According to Bulldogs defensive lineman Christen Miller, Smart maintains strict standards and refuses to let anything slip through the cracks.

“I had to understand that the decision that I made when I was speeding not only affected me, but it also affected my teammates and my family,” Christian Miller said. “So I had to understand that I have to be more intentional when I’m driving. If I’m going 10 over, I’ve got to see that. I’ve got to understand what’s going on and just be a man. My coach doesn’t like that. He doesn’t like it at all.”

Smart made sure Miller grew from his mistakes, both on and off the field.

“It’s not right. He doesn’t like it. And I feel like he does a good job of disciplining players for it and just holding them accountable, taking money, and having us come in early for 6:30, just showing us that that’s not what you do. When you get in the car, you drive the speed limit; you do what you’re supposed to do.”

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Miller admitted he had some maturing to do at the University of Georgia, saying he was “living a little too fast” early in his college career. That included a March 2023 incident in which he was pulled over for driving 30 mph over the speed limit.

Like most draft prospects who’ve had any kind of legal trouble in the past, Miller certainly expects this to be brought up during interviews with NFL teams.

In fact, when the DL was pulled over for the speed limit, it obviously didn’t go unnoticed by Smart. The head coach made Georgia’s NIL collective fine the player. 

“The [NIL] collective has fined players substantially,” Smart said in an interview in 2024. “We’ve dismissed players that have been involved, and I’m talking about, like, routine traffic, repeated, repeated violations. I actually think the best key is the pocket because you look at what the NFL has done; their model is defined. And if you asked any of our players what they would rather have, they want their money.” 

In an attempt to bring the players under a disciplined structure, Smart’s program conducts “driver safety education.” The program also invites law enforcement personnel as speakers to the Athens camp to remind the players about their responsibility while being behind the driver’s wheel.

To Smart, college is a proving ground. Yes, it’s about GPA and cleats, but it’s also about owning your independence and battling your flaws. 

While Miller got the chance to rectify himself, paying the fine and winning Smart’s trust back by not speeding again, one of the players never got the chance. 

On January 15, 2023, hours after Georgia celebrated a national championship, Smart’s squad lost its 20-year-old offensive lineman, Devin Willock, to a car crash. He was in the same car that was being driven by recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy, who drove 104 mph. Willock was pronounced dead at the scene, while LeCroy passed away shortly after being taken to the hospital. 

Even though that incident startled Smart’s camp, since January 23, more than 20-plus players from Georgia have gotten into trouble due to driving-related incidents, with two new players arrested in February 2026.

Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs are once again linked to a reckless-driving incident

Just a month after Willock tragically lost his life in a speeding incident, trouble struck again. In February, then-Georgia linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson was arrested on misdemeanor charges of street racing and reckless driving tied to a January 10 incident.

Other than that, 12 more reckless driving cases plagued Smart’s Georgia in 2023. In 2024, the count reduced to five cases, and two in 2025. 

Heading into 2026, Smart was not bracing for another off-field storm. But it came anyway. Linebackers Chris Cole and Darren Ikinnagbon were arrested on reckless driving and speeding charges.

And according to Athens Today, Georgia has now seen 32 player arrests in the three years since its championship glory.

Authorities reported Cole’s black SUV was captured at 105 mph. Close behind, roughly 10 feet back, Ikinnagbon’s white SUV maintained an identical speed, neither advancing nor retreating, and was likewise estimated at 105 mph by the officer. Both players were arrested on February 18 and were later released on bond the same night.

So, it’s now Kirby Smart’s call. Will the duo get a chance to rectify themselves like Miller, or do they meet the same fate as Nyier Daniels, who was shown the door last November?