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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Gray Staying at Georgia

UPDATED w/ Richt quotes...

Logan Gray wants to play. But he wants to be with the Georgia Bulldogs even more.

While the possibility remains that the junior quarterback will get an opportunity to do both, he announced Wednesday that despite reservations about his role on the team, he’s staying in Athens for the remainder of his career.

“I have decided to stay at the University of Georgia because I truly do love being a Georgia Bulldog,” Gray said in a statement released by the school. “I want to be a part of this team getting back to the SEC championship game and winning it.”

Gray met with head coach Mark Richt last month to discuss a possible transfer after he finished spring practice as the team’s No. 2 quarterback for the second consecutive season. Gray was hoping for a larger role on the team and had openly considered a position change to wide receiver as far back as November.

Richt told Gray to think things over and said he would support any decision.

So when Gray called his coach Wednesday to reveal his decision, Richt’s first response was to inquire about Gray’s reasoning.

“He said, ‘Because I love Georgia, I love my teammates, I think we can win, and I want to win. I want to be there,’ ” Richt said, “That was all the right reasons to stay.”

While Gray’s motives were clear, his future still remains a bit murky.

Richt said Gray will likely work only at receiver over the summer, and that’s a possibility for the fall that Gray appears enthusiastic to pursue.

“I’m also looking forward to getting some work at receiver and am going to work hard to make the best out of my opportunity at this position as well,” Gray said. “I appreciate Coach Richt’s patience while I made this decision and his helpful advice. Now, I want to put all of this behind me and focus on getting to work on preparations for next season at UGA.”

Still, Gray remains the team’s No. 2 quarterback for now, with freshman Hutson Mason set to arrive on campus next month.

While Richt said Gray’s work at receiver would likely eliminate his chances of being the starter — and thus making Aaron Murray the de facto winner of the competition — the position change wouldn’t necessarily mean Gray would be dropped from the depth chart altogether.

“I don’t know what (Mason) can do,” Richt said. “If he’s ready, he’ll still play. If we don’t think he’s ready, I would be more than happy to have Logan continue to be our No. 2 and then just go from there.”

After spending all spring — and the first month afterward — assuring fans that no quarterback had won the starting job yet, Richt relented somewhat Wednesday, saying that it would be likely that Murray, a redshirt freshman, would be the starter and appeared ready for the job.

“He’s to the point, in my opinion, where he just needs to play,” Richt said. “The biggest thing though is he needs to understand that you don’t have to do anything spectacular. You don’t have to put the team on your shoulders. You’re not required to carry this football team. You’re required to do your job, and part of your job is to try not to be a hero.”

10 comments:

jlove said...

thank god our solid #2 is staying, he may even end up being the starter

newdonkey said...

This is great news. It may not matter in the end, but if it does matter, it will matter a great deal. Without Gray, an injury to Murray could well ruin the whole year, or at least offset all the other offensive talent on the team.

Maybe Mason could be an instant world-beater, but that's doubtful and it's hardly fair to expect that of him. Everything we saw of Gray in the spring indicated a competent QB. I'd say that's a minimum requirement for a competitive SEC team.

kathleen said...

Like.

ROBERTO said...

This is fantastic news! In addition to the copious number of offensive starters returning we ALSO return the nation's premier fair-catcher.

FLORIDA WATCH YO BACK.

Cojones said...

No one deserves to be on this team more than you,Logan. I'm sure you know that your detractors are mostly mean-spirited Techies along with some horses asses who think that they are fans. They heve to become men first, so be patient because some of them won't make it and you will hear the butt sniffers still trying to please their "in" friends when they blog.. We are a much better team with you and we are looking forward to seeing you on that well-deserved field mission. Hope a great number of wild dog plays come your way.

GO DAWGS!! GO LOGAN!!

Cojones said...

By the way. We also will be looking around to observe who puts their prejudiced opinions above the Dawgs as a team. I, for one, will look for those who will give that love we know you need to hear. You are my stalking horse to out the sore-headed pundits I've had the displeasure to read concerning you. Hope you read along with a lot of us.

Anonymous said...

Great news. I'm really rooting for Logan to be able to contribute to the team in some way. I hope they can have a useable package for him this season.

BTW I LOVE this Mark Richt quote.

"You’re required to do your job, and part of your job is to not try to be a hero."

If Murray truly understands this then think we'll be alright.

IveyLeaguer said...

This was never about anything but Gray getting himself some PT at receiver. And he was smart to use the leverage he had as a QB to get it. He played his cards and came out with some guaranteed PT.

Gray's a great athlete and skill player, and both he and Richt know that. Playmakers want to play, first and foremost. It's tough watching from the sidelines when you know you could not only play as well as others on the field, but also know you could make plays they can't make, plays that would help the team.

This was a no-brainer for Richt because we NEED Logan Gray at WR. And Gray played it smart.

So did Richt, for that matter, and Georgia is a better team for it.

~~~

Anonymous said...

So Logan will be the #2 QB, but will not practice at QB? Sorry, but this doesn't make sense to me. We need a #2 QB that gets sufficient practice time at QB, not at WR. Sounds like we're hinging everything on Murray staying healthy, which isn't a very smart thing to do.

Dawgfan17 said...

Anon. There is not much choice at this point. If Mason develops fast enough he will be the number 2 guy. If he doesn't then we don't have much choice but to have Logan as the # 2 guy. Richt I am sure told Logan he could move to WR to keep him on the roster in case of emergency. If he didn't it is likely he would have left and we would have no guy if Murray got hurt and Mason wasn't ready. It is not ideal but given that Mett was kicked off the team it appears to be the best option left.