Kirby Smart is in great soup! With an arrest and a recruiting loss, the Georgia Bulldogs’ head coach should buckle up as huge turbulence awaits. The latest blow came with potential linebacker recruit Xavier Griffin’s decision to shake hands with Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans.

But what made the player pick the Trojans and not the Dawgs? Probably Smart’s struggle with the culture in the Georgia hood. The latest blow for the Bulldogs’ HC came with the WR Rodarius ‘Rara’ Thomas, who got cuffed for multiple charges on Friday, July 26. Earlier, Smart faced media wrath and is now failing to reel in the new blood.       

Back-to-back blows for the Georgia HC. Smart is now snubbed by the newcomers. The first recruit to lose interest in Athens is a four-star defensive end, Griffin. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound pass passer and the No.21 prospect committed to the USC Trojans. And what a big win for Riley! Griffin became the fifth and highest-ranked player committed to USC’s 2026 class. Does that mean Riley just snatched away Griffin from Smart? At least one of the top USC fans, EL CHICANO feels so, as he tweeted on July 28, “GEORGIA FANS COACH LINCOLN RILEY TAKING KIRBY SMART LUNCH FOOD AGAIN KID PROBABLY SAW ALL THE KNUCKLEHEADS AT GEORGIA GETTING ARRESTED SMH.”

The athlete tallied 54 total tackles with 15 sacks and two forced fumbles in his sophomore year at Gainesville High School last season. Even though it’s yet to be discovered why Griffin chose USC over Georgia, it’s evident that he wanted to keep himself away from the mess the Bulldogs are in. 

On July 16, the WR Thomas was arrested and brought to the Athens-Clark County jail. Going by the reports, Thomas is facing some serious charges, surrounding three counts of family violence battery and three counts of second-degree cruelty to children. And to everyone’s surprise, this was the second time that the Mississippi State transfer has been put behind bars. Last time, in January 2023, Smart’s WR was arrested on a felony charge. This is just the tip of Georgia’s dicey cultural iceberg. 

Kirby Smart is under fire as legal woes mount for Georgia

Last season, Smart started on a high note as Bulldogs took the college football by storm winning two straight national championships. But again the good times were short-lived as the program soon was on the receiving end of some legal woes. Not one or two, but the reports confirm that at least 29, players and staff included, of the Bulldogs family have been arrested since January 23. The charges varied from reckless driving to driving under influence. On January 2023, the program lost staff member Chanler LeCroy and Georgia OL Devin Willock to a tragic car accident. 

We don’t have to travel long back in time, since in July 2024 itself, there have been two other arrests other than Thomas. On July 11, Georgia starting linebacker Smael Mondon was cuffed on charges of speeding and reckless driving. Just a day earlier on July 10, Bo Hughley, Bulldogs’ offensive lineman, was arrested by the University of Georgia police on similar charges.

When the number of arrests keeps on increasing with every passing day, of course, no one other than Smart has to get the blame badge. The 24/7 College Sports Talk podcast page tagged the Georgia HC and the program as “The Culture at Georgia is truly a joke. This is disgusting.  Kirby Smart must be held accountable.” Time to see how Smart, who worked under the GOAT Nick Saban, plans to whip Georgia into shape and gain the trust of the recruits.