SEC commissioner responds to Georgia football coach Kirby Smart shoving Mississippi St. QB
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey issued a statement Monday afternoon on the sideline incident involving Georgia football coach Kirby Smart shoving a Mississippi State player.
Smart said after the game he was trying to reach defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann about changing personnel after the 6-yard Van Buren run.
“Coaches cannot make contact with an opposing player,” Sankey said in a statement emailed to the Athens Baner-Herald. “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.”
The SEC statement from Sankey made no mention of any discipline including a suspension for Smart.
The SEC publicly reprimanded Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats in January for making physical contact with Missouri player Aidan Shaw during a game.
“Nate Oats’ actions were unacceptable and violated the expectations for conduct and sportsmanship as established by the membership of the Southeastern Conference,” Sankey said at the time. “Under no circumstances should a coach make intentional contact with a student-athlete on an opposing team.”
