A Georgia football commit is already hurting his chances of playing for the Bulldogs and he’s not even enrolled at the school yet. Four-star commit Chase Calicut was arrested for a violent driving incident in Houston, involving three others including the passenger in Calicut’s car allegedly shooting out of Calicut’s vehicle.
It’s yet another legal issue in the long list of problems the Georgia football program has had to deal with. The fact that he isn’t even on campus yet means Georgia coach Kirby Smart will have to face an uncomfortable reality about one of the players in his coveted class and one about his program as a whole.
It’s become a meme on social media, but it’s very much a serious pattern within Georgia’s football team. The fact that Calicut is involved in a situation before even stepping on campus means Smart has to start taking drastic measures to keep these types of things from occurring.
Kirby Smart has to face uncomfortable reality about legal issues within Georgia’s football program
I’m not sure exactly what Smart can do when it comes to these types of situations, truly because they're not his fault. But the fact that his players continue to be the center of all the reckless driving and DUI issues within college football means he needs to start enforcing stricter punishments.
And Calicut needs to be the example. While fielding an elite football team is important, Smart needs to let his team and recruits know he has a zero tolerance for serious driving violations. Smart should consider pulling Calicut’s scholarship. That would set the tone for how serious he’s treating these violations.
When it comes to his team, he needs to start suspending players, finding ways to have that affect their NIL money – if he can even enforce that – and start making it clear these problems end now. I’m all for players getting second chances, but Smart has to find a way to teach his team a lesson.
It seems like every year, nearly every few weeks of the season, a new Georgia player was arrested for a driving violation. And when it’s starting to fizzle down to the high school recruits, that’s showing a real problem. I’m not blaming Smart for Calicut’s actions or any of his players’ actions, but with stricter punishments this could limit some of these issues.
Calicut should be lucky if Smart allows him on campus next fall. And if he does suit up for the Bulldogs, Kirby better get Smart about how he handles these arrests moving forward, otherwise it will start to become his problem.