Assistant Football Coach Charged with DUI

When a person starts off their career as an assistant, it is typically because they have aspirations of moving up the ladder. This may or may not have been the case for Georgia defensive graduate assistant coach, Courtney Coard. One thing is for certain: If Coard did have aspirations of moving beyond assistant, they might just have been dashed by his DUI arrest.

Coard was booked into Clarke County Jail after being charged with improper driving and driving under the influence. The incident occurred just before 3 a.m., when a police officer noticed his 2008 Nissan Maxima to be weaving.

In police reports, the coach is said to have had a receipt from an Athens bar in his pocket. It was also stated that Coard did poorly on field sobriety tests, and that his “eyes were blood shot red and watery.” Prior to arrest, he told police officers that he had been at a friend’s home on Cedar Shoals Drive. He was released on a $2,000 bond at 4:31 a.m. according to online jail records.

Coard refused two separate times to submit to a test of his blood alcohol content. An arresting officer asked him the reason for his refusal, to which he responded that there was no reason to submit to the test.

The man was listed as one of four graduate assistant coaches for this season. The school’s coach, Mark Richt, swiftly suspended Coard. Previously a coach for North Carolina A&T’s defensive line, he also coached at North Carolina Central and Grambling. These coaching stints followed a college career as a four-year starter from 2004 through 2007.

Whether or not Coard will be permitted back on the team remains to be seen. A court date has yet to be set in the case, and he has not yet released a statement regarding his arrest.