Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart isn’t expected to face SEC discipline after an incident in the team’s 41-31 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on October 12.
Smart shoved Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren in the second half while arguing with the referees on the Georgia sideline.
Smart wasn’t penalized for the shove, which the head coach claimed was inadvertent.
Kirby Smart shoves Mississippi State QB Michael Van Buren while arguing with official.
(via @SECNetwork)https://t.co/3JH351c7HR pic.twitter.com/zHYpnyClCg
— On3 (@On3sports) October 12, 2024
Van Buren and Smart said after the game that they didn’t remember the details of the incident. By Monday, Smart contacted Van Buren and Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby to apologize.
Kirby Smart said he spoke yesterday to Mississippi State QB Michael Van Buren Jr., and “and told him I had no intentions or ill will at all.”
Smart said he didn’t realize he had shoved Van Buren until he saw the tape on Sat. night, and immediately called coach Jeff Lebby.
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) October 14, 2024
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey addressed the incident on Monday and said that Smart will not be disciplined further.
“Coaches cannot make contact with an opposing player. This play should have resulted in enforcement of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. As Kirby discussed in his press conference today, he has appropriately reached out to Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby and quarterback Michael Van Buren. I am confident the contact was not intentional and the clear expectation is this conduct will not happen again,” Sankey said in a statement via The Athletic.
Smart and Georgia will now focus on a showdown with the top-ranked Texas Longhorns this Saturday in Austin.
