ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia football program, which has dealt with a litany of driving arrests the last three years, is moving on from at least one and perhaps two players who were arrested earlier this spring.
Nitro Tuggle, a promising Georgia receiver who was arrested on speeding charges in March, is entering the transfer portal. Marques Easley, a freshman offensive lineman arrested on a reckless driving charge last month, is also expected to leave.The charges to Tuggle and Easley were misdemeanors, and in the past head coach Kirby Smart has kept players facing misdemeanors on the team and doled out internal punishment such as withholding payments from the team’s collective or occasionally a game suspension. But when Tuggle and Easley were arrested last month, the team immediately announced that both were suspended indefinitely from team activities. Neither returned to the team over the next four weeks of spring practice.
The arrests were the ninth and 10th known driving-related arrests of a Georgia football player since the Jan. 2023 crash that killed player Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy.
Tuggle and Easley were part of the team’s plans for 2025 and beyond. Tuggle, in fact, was persuaded not to enter the portal after seeing action in eight games and recording three catches his freshman season, as Smart and the staff thought his size (6-1, 190) and catch ability could put him in position to be a part of the 2025 receiver rotation.
That changed after March 19, when Tuggle was clocked going 107mph, according to a police incident report. He was charged with misdemeanor speeding and reckless driving.
Easley was charged two days later in connection with a crash that occurred on March 17. An incident report from the Georgia State Patrol said Easley was driving in “reckless disregard” and lost control of his Dodge Challenger, which rammed into a power distribution box and then another car, which then hit another car. There were no injuries other than Easley, who was treated and released.
Smart, speaking a few days after the arrests, said that each player had made “crucial mistakes.” Smart also said one of them had just gotten his driver’s license — he didn’t say who — but added that it wasn’t unusual for 18-year-old players to arrive on campus without their driver’s license.Smart also reiterated the program has been working behind the scenes to educate players on safe driving.
“It’s been several years in terms of defensive driving courses, having players ride and learn how to drive, just like my two kids did, with a driver’s service,” Smart said. “(Georgia athletic director) Josh Brooks has done a tremendous job meeting with every player, and we’ve had several speakers come in, and we continue to educate. We’re not going to stop at that.”
This isn’t the first time a player has left for that reason: David Daniel-Sisavanh was dismissed last summer, but it was after multiple driving offenses.
Tuggle and Easley were both four-star recruits in Georgia’s 2024 class, which was the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation per the 247Sports composite. Tuggle, a native of Indiana, was the 102nd-ranked recruit in the class, and Easley, from Illinois, was No. 254
