NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said he read a report of former Bulldogs tight end Darnell Washington being tied into NCAA violations at Tennessee, but other than that he didn’t know much about the situation.
He said he was unaware that Washington was paid by a Tennessee assistant.
“No, we don’t get involved in any kind of NCAA investigation,” Smart said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “Wasn’t aware of it or known about it, really anything to do with it. I saw the reports like you guys did.”
Then Tennessee assistant coach Brian Niedermyer delivered $750 cash in a Las Vegas parking lot to Washington in January 2019 and joined Washington’s family on a December 2019 flight for his official visit to Knoxville, according to a report by Knox News.