Georgia football recruiting staffers drove after drinking, new court documents allege

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Football recruiting staffers at the University of Georgia routinely drove rented vehicles after consuming alcohol, according to court documents filed Thursday by attorneys representing a former staffer who was seriously injured in a January 2023 car wreck that killed a Bulldogs player and another staff member.

In an amended complaint filed in state court in Gwinnett County (Georgia), the attorneys also alleged that UGA assistant football coaches used cash to pay for recruiting expenses during unofficial recruiting visits, which could be a violation of NCAA rules.

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The amended complaint alleged that "text messages show that on occasion supervisors and coaches, in effect, encouraged recruiting staff to drink alcohol with football prospects' families-well aware that staffers would leave the events after consuming alcohol."

"Association coaches and staff regularly drank alcohol at UGA football Coach Kirby Smart's residence during recruiting events, and then, in Association SUVs, returned recruits' families and guests back to their lodging," the complaint said. "The Association and UGA coaches were well aware that involved alcohol, in Association SUVs."

The amended complaint included a Dec. 14, 2019, text message purportedly sent to 13 staff members by then-UGA director of player personnel Marshall Malchow that said: "Hey guys... if you are driving you can have fun at Coach Smarts but if you are driving a recruit make sure you don't get drunk. It will be a bad look if we have people who are supposed to be driving recruits getting lit."

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In a Feb. 22, 2022, text message, another athletic association employee told recruiting staff members that an associate athletic director said to turn a downtown Athens restaurant "into a bar with [recruits'] families and don't leave."

"My client's iPhone survived the crash fully intact and contains thousands of pages of recruiting texts describing the inner workings of UGA's recruiting activities," Bowles' attorney, Rob Buck, said in a statement to ESPN. "The new texts included in the Amended Complaint establish that the Association was fully aware recruiting staffers were regularly allowed to drive recruits and their families around Athens after drinking alcohol at Association sponsored events. Some texts even show that football coaches and recruiting supervisors, in effect, encouraged staffers to drink with football prospects' families.

"The texts contradict the Association's pleadings and public statements to its fan base. The texts document that the Association knowingly allowed football staffers to drive Association SUVs while drinking even if UGA had policies stating otherwise."

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The amended complaint also alleges that Bowles is aware of UGA football coaches using cash in recruiting activities involving unofficial visits. NCAA rules prohibit coaches and staff members from paying for expenses for recruits and their families during unofficial visits, including lodging, meals, entertainment and travel costs.

Bowles' original complaint said Bulldogs assistant coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe asked her to use his ATM card to get $1,000 in cash at a recruiting dinner during an unofficial recruiting visit on Jan. 14, 2023. The ATM card didn't work, so she drove to her home to get money. The complaint said Uzo-Diribe paid her back via Venmo. The athletic association previously said in a statement that it assumed the cash was for Uzo-Diribe's personal use.

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