The water is rising above Kirby Smart’s waist and it looks like he has his own feelings of kindness to blame for the floods. The 2nd arrest of RaRa Thomas has made the HC the hottest topic in college football and by the looks of it, most of the program’s criminal culture is being blamed on his sense of leniency with the players.

Rodarious Thomas, the WR for the Georgia Bulldogs, faced arrest on three counts of family violence battery and three counts of second-degree cruelty to children. Every word is more shocking than the previous one and is an eye-opener to the sort of crimes that are being committed in the Georgia program. Thomas’ arrest makes the total number come out to a jaw-dropping 25 since January 2023 and it begs the question- what kind of coach allows such a sort of unchecked indiscipline to go unpunished for so long? While dissecting the situation, Fox Sports Radio chose to make the connection between Nick Saban and his apprentice, Kirby Smart, and the similar policies of mercy.

Kirby Smart’s tolerance blamed on his derivation from Nick Saban

On the 28th July telecast of Fox Sports Radio, both Aaron Torres and Jason Martin took to the mic to talk about the ongoing controversy that surrounded Kirby Smart and the second arrest of RaRa Thomas. Martin sounded a bit too agitated when he quoted Nick Saban’s policy of second chances, something which Smart has been following a bit too ardently. This policy of mercy is definitely one of the reasons why the HC is being bashed all over and maybe he will lead with a different regime of strictness within the team now.

Though Smart has discussed his methods of suspending players as punishment, RaRa’s indefinite suspension came only as the 25th arrest in the program. Smart has been a bit too lenient with his players and is now facing the wrath of the football community over it. Martin’s frustrated comments were, “I agree with everything you said because the Kirby Defenders and I’ll give Georgia fans credit. The last couple of instances I have seen even Georgia fans say something has to change but The Kirby Defenders will say he’s done everything. Well, he hasn’t done everything.”

He further went on to add that he has yet to see any other players miss playing time because of their arrests and that’s something that Smart needs to work upon. Martin also quoted Saban, saying, “You know, Nick Saban has that famous quote about, you know, giving kids second chances whatever. Okay, I get it but at the same time, you want to send a message to whoever it is. Now this kid Rara Thomas. I can’t imagine that he ever plays again.” Maybe the indefinite end of Thomas’ career will be a perfect precedent for the other players in the team to look up to and stay within ethical bounds or maybe Smart will have to take more harsh calls and terminate playing time for some of them. With that being said, everyone expects Kirby Smart to be the next Nick Saban of college football, and here’s why.

Could Kirby Smart be the next Nick Saban?

As far as the head coaching position is considered, there’s no one close to the success of Nick Saban and the dominant run that he conducted at Alabama. What’s also important to mention is that Smart has also won 4 of his 6 national championships under Nick Saban and as such, boasts of quite the experience that it takes to go all the way.

Moreover, he displayed signs of Saban-level success when he won two national championships for the Bulldogs within the last 3 years. He would only need 3 or 4 more to match the legendary Alabama coach’s record and, thus, looks to be on the right path. If that’s not impressive enough, Smart is currently the highest-paid coach in college football with an annual salary of $13 million, which just goes to show how much faith the program has in his capabilities. The clouds of shame currently surround the program but Smart will still have tunnel vision on the goal, which is the overall improvement of the team.