ATHENS, Ga. — It has been a difficult offseason for the Georgia football program since winning its second consecutive national championship, beginning with a tragic car accident that took the lives of a player and athletic department employee.
But recent reporting in an Atlanta newspaper that the school has taken sexual assault allegations lightly prompted coach Kirby Smart and school officials to hold a rare briefing with a group of media members Tuesday to defend themselves.
“We take these allegations extremely serious — I take these allegations extremely serious,” Smart said. “We do not tolerate sexual misconduct in our organization. I’m a football coach, I’m responsible for this program, and it starts with me. I see this through the lens of, I have a wife and a daughter. When I think about these situations, I think about them. It’s personal to me. But I will not tolerate false accusations that this program or this university condone sexual misconduct. We have no tolerance for sexual assault or abuse. Never have and never will.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that 11 players during Smart’s tenure remained with the team after women reported violent encounters to the police or university. The newspaper did not identify the 11 players and…
