David Greene on Aaron Murray: ‘The kid wants to be great’
David Greene remembers what it was like to be a redshirt-freshman starter at quarterback. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
When Georgia fans outline the best-case scenario for how quarterback Aaron Murray will turn out, they naturally look back at the last time we had a redshirt freshman take over as signal caller.
After all, David Greene went on to become the winningest quarterback in NCAA history until supplanted in that spot last year by Colt McCoy.
So when I had the chance to chat with Greene this morning, we talked about what Murray is going through and what he needs to do to put himself and the Dogs in the best position to win games.
This summer, Greene said, the two most important things Murray can do is work in the weight room to get stronger “so you can take those hits,” and “more than anything, work on building a good rapport with his teammates.” Summer passing workouts “don’t completely simulate what it’s going to be like, but it allows you to work on your timing and get to know your receivers and how they run the routes. Everyone runs them a little differently.”
Organizing the summer sessions, which is up to the quarterback, is also “a great way to start his leadership role,” Greene said. “I loved it. It was really competitive, and there were no coaches on the field. So you could get a lot of work done.”
The biggest thing an inexperienced quarterback like Murray has to overcome, Greene said, is that “you really don’t see the field that well when you first get out there. You’ve got so much going through your mind that it’s hard to see everything you’re looking at. You might see the linebacker and not see the cornerback. You might think you’ve got a man open and then the cornerback comes over and makes a pick. Eventually, I could see everybody on the field. A lot of it is just getting confidence in what you’re doing, but you’ve got to go through it.”
With that in mind, Greene said, Mark Richt likes to ease his quarterbacks in to the offense. “Coach Richt said it’s like Football 101 when you start out. And then as I got more involved and understood the offense better, he gave me more to do. By the time I was a senior, I’d come up to the line with three or four plays and I’d pick the best one.”
We talked a bit about what it’s like to start your first real game, and Greene said it helped that he didn’t fully realize all that he didn’t know as a redshirt freshman “or I would have been a lot more nervous.” I asked if he remembered his first interception, and he laughed and said he didn’t. That’s the sort of thing you just shake off. “When you’re confident in your abilities, you just chalk that up to them getting lucky. You say to yourself, I just gave them that one. I’ve got to make sure I don’t do that again.”
Echoing what Richt has said, Greene said the key for Murray is “not to try to go out there and be the hero. Just run the team. Run the offense. And just be steady. Take what they give you. Playing quarterback is like a chess match. It’s about executing. Recognizing when you have the advantage and then exploiting it.”
How important is it that Murray will be surrounded by 10 returning starters? “That’s huge,” Greene said. “I’d much rather be in a situation where you have an experienced offensive line and an inexperienced quarterback than have an inexperienced line in front of an experienced quarterback. Georgia’s offensive line should be really good this year. If you can’t run the ball and all you can do is pass, it’s a nightmare. But if you can run the ball, it’s a whole other game.”
Matt Stinchcomb (left) and David Greene are now in the insurance business together. (Terry College of Business)
Greene already has talked with Murray by phone and plans on heading over to Athens in the next couple of weeks to work him. “I’ve been impressed that he has reached out to me and said, ‘I want to pick your brain.’ The kid wants to be great, and you’ve got to commend him for that. He’s fired up. He loves the game and eats and sleeps Georgia football. He wants Georgia to be great. I think we’ve got the right guy back there when it comes to having a lot of heart.”
Greene’s appraisal of Murray’s skills as a quarterback? “He can throw it. I’m not really worried about that. The key for a freshman is just making good decisions. Coach Richt has a saying, ‘Don’t turn a bad play into a catastrophe.’ Sometimes as a freshman you want to make it happen on every play. And sometimes it’s just not gonna happen and you have to accept that. It’s tough.”
Spending time in the film room also will pay off, Greene said. “I think it’s so important for him to be able to recognize coverages early on.”
Defenses will, of course, know that Georgia has an inexperienced QB. “I expect him to get blitzed a lot,” Greene said. “But one thing about blitzing is that if you pick it up, you can burn ‘em. He’s got an advantage in that he’s got No. 8 running down the sideline, so he can really make ‘em pay.”
Greene said he and Murray have “very different styles” as a quarterback. “He’s a lot more agile and can get out of the pocket and make some plays. I threw a lot more balls to my Dad in the stands. He also has a stronger arm than I did. I was more of a pocket passer, a touch passer.”
Last season, Greene, who now works in the insurance business in Atlanta with Matt Stinchcomb, alternated with Kevin Butler as part of the post-game call-in show on the UGA radio network, but he said he hasn’t heard anything about continuing that role this year. “It was fun,” he said, but it was also a challenge because after a bad game callers would “want me to throw a coach or a player under the bus, and I’m just not going to do that. I remember what it was like as a player. I might be a frustrated as everyone else, but I’m not going to bash players or coaches.”
Green said he goes to most, though not all, home games. Unlike some former players, he tends to stay in the stands rather than go down on the sideline “because I go to games with my wife and my 2 1/2-year-old son.”
Some fans might think his son is too young for the games, he said, but “that’s the only time he’ll sit still, is to watch the Dogs.” So might he be raising a future Dog? “Yeah,” Greene said with a laugh, “and he’s left-handed, too!”
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF
Greene, along with Matt and Jon Stinchcomb, will play host at the annual Countdown to Kickoff Fan Day from 3 to 6 p.m. July 17 at the UGA practice fields, where you can meet Bulldogs players past and present and get autographs. There’ll also be lots of activities for the kids and the Redcoat Band and cheerleaders will be on hand. Tickets are $25 and benefit to the Georgia Transplant Foundation, Children’s Tumor Foundation, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and UGA’s Pediatric Exercise and Motor Development Clinic. Go here for more information or to buy tickets.
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119 comments Add your comment
OEJ
June 22nd, 2010
3:53 pm
gdawginkalamazoo…if that happens then great, but from what ive seen everythime that he has gotten playing time wasnt good. I feelk more confident in Mason even without seein him take a college snap. I just rather have a true QB, and I dont think thats Gray, that just my opinion. Whatever happens at QB happens, I want us to win no matter who is at QB
UGA is Just Fine...
June 22nd, 2010
4:07 pm
I think some are putting WAY too much stock into how A.Murray performed at G-day. Let’s remember it was ONE SCRIMAGE. I think Murray knew he was going to be named no. 1 and felt a bit of pressure to match what Mett was doing. Again G-day is nothing more than a glorified scrimage and as many Dawg fans surely remember, in 05, DJ hardly lit it up in the spring game and that combined with his performance in the 04 GT game had many worried going into the season, and we all know how 05 turned out.
Murray is absolutely in the best possible situation any new QB could be in.
He’s the lone newbie on an offense that returns every starter, our OL is mature, and we have two stud RBs to take pressure off. Not to mention arguably the best WR in the nation.
I hope as an earlier poster alluded to, that teams do load the box and force him to throw. That probably means AJ is got single coverage, O.Charles is matched up against an LB (mismatch), and/or if AJ is double-teamed then Charles, King, or Durham will have a major mismatch.
It will be impossible for opposing teams to load the box AND effectively cover the WRs and TEs.
The play calling will be equally important, if Bobo will stick with the run even early on when teams are stacking the box and wisely choose when to make teams pay with play action passing we’ll be fine.
Agree with an earlier poster that the SC game will tell us a lot about what we’ve got. If we can come out of the Arkansas game undefeated or with only one loss, could be a special season.
BTW- CHDawg great post!
Go Dawgs!
DawginOH
June 22nd, 2010
4:07 pm
Murray has the heart that was missing from the team last year. If he plays smart football, the Dawgs will be just fine next season. And to all of y’all who say he’s too short- didn’t some “short dude” win Super Bowl MVP last season?
cantondawg
June 22nd, 2010
4:08 pm
I’ve read many comments criticizing Joe Cox and i’m sick of it. In the Arkansas and South Carolina games, Joe Cox looked as good as any Qb that has come to UGA. We scored 50+ points on Ark and 40+ on SC. Sure, turnovers were a problem for JC but the kid had talent as evident in these games. I’m sick of people saying he had no talent. That’s BS. He had no running game to help him until the last couple of games so he made mistakes trying to win the game for us. He had too much pressure put on him with the lack of a running game.
cantondawg
June 22nd, 2010
4:11 pm
Am i the only one that thinks Christian Lemay may change his mind coming to UGA. If Murray has a huge year (which he’s capable) i think CL may go somewhere else. Has anyone seen CJ Uzomah play. The dude is 6′5 and a prototypical QB. i wonder if we are still recruiting him.
Dawg H8R
June 22nd, 2010
4:14 pm
My earlier post didn’t make it?
Purhaps if’n I sayd Jawja is duh best in duh world,my quotational would make a good post.
Murray will be better than Jesus.That offensive line,receiver corp,d-line,linebackers,secondary,
waterboys; Jawja WILL be better than God,Muhammed,Jesus,AND the Founding Fathers!!
Bottomline:anything associated with Jawja should be considered as THE GREATEST.
Does that kiss enough butt for you buttlicker faithful.
Huh?
June 22nd, 2010
4:16 pm
What is the point here? Everybody wants to be great. And so what if he’s talking to David Greene?
Just stop with the Drew Brees comparisons too. Every short QB isn’t Drew Brees. Just let the kid play. May be he’ll be good. May be he’ll suck. But let him be himself.
Dawg H8R
June 22nd, 2010
4:18 pm
Huh?
The world needs more realists like you.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 22nd, 2010
4:28 pm
OEJ, hey man understandable and everybody is entitled to an opinion and I can respect yours. Mason does intrigue though. Why did Richt recruit him in a year when he said that he wasn’t going to recruit a QB? I wonder what his potential may be. Has to be something there with what Richt knows as one of the best QB coaches in the country.
Bill King is a.................
June 22nd, 2010
4:32 pm
1st……What the hell is Greene doing sitting down and talking to BK????? Is Greene that thankful that someone still wants to interview him long after he has been gone?? Sweet Jesus!!!! I hope Murray soaks up all that Greene can offer him, he was one of the best. His Senior season…..i remember him getting hurt and coming back in the game in the 4th quarter vs Tech. Shockley couldnt get us in the right play and Greene came back in and we secured the win. He was definitley one of our truly gifted QB’s. I wish we still had him.
Bill King is a.................
June 22nd, 2010
4:35 pm
Dawginkalamazoo……..easy there killer!!! I agree Richt has somewhat of a nose for talented qbs. But can you explain to me why the hell we started Joe T III and Joe Cox?? Richt fell asleep at the switch on those two. Him doing that and sticking with Willie has set our program back to the Donnan Days. I hope we bounce back to having some kickarse teams
KimZ'sPackage
June 22nd, 2010
5:11 pm
DAWG1 I know it VET school is a great deal harder than Med school.DID you miss that in my [sic} post or are you not that smart.
FromtheBARstool
June 22nd, 2010
5:16 pm
Arizona is the winter league and yes I was due up th the Double A from Suprise, AZ for the Rangers.
1eyedJack
June 22nd, 2010
5:17 pm
Four years from now we’ll be trying to favorably compare the next QB to A. Murray.
I think he will be an Eric Zeir type QB with a better supporting cast.
Murray the Midget
June 22nd, 2010
5:17 pm
I have big dreams for such a little man.
FromtheBARstool
June 22nd, 2010
5:21 pm
do your homework
Truth hurts
June 22nd, 2010
5:27 pm
FromtheBARstool, if you’re going to make up a lie, at least make one up that’s more impressive than your “washed up minor league baseball player who never could make it” story…
FromtheBARstool
June 22nd, 2010
5:32 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHHAH you did your homework? do you know what I really do?
Truth hurts
June 22nd, 2010
5:37 pm
Nope, don’t know a whole lot about you. I do know that you have spent a significant amount of time on this UGA blog today. So, I’m guessing you aren’t exactly in a position of importance or power. This is all speculation, of course. You could always enlighten us, and let us know what you’re up to these days. Let me guess… VP of a Fortune 500 company? Governor of Alabama? Make sure to throw in a few humbling facts, so that your readers really buy into your story.
nam dog
June 22nd, 2010
5:39 pm
the two new qbs will b fine, keep the dream team qb i carolina where he belongs mark my word
DawginLex
June 22nd, 2010
6:01 pm
The bottom line is that there are a few facts that can not be disputed:
1.) Murray is a redshirt freshman
2.) Murray is going to start
3.) Murray is going to make mistakes
4.) Murray is going to play for four years
5.) Murray has the good fortune of playing behind a veteran OL
6.) Murray has the good fortune of having talented RB’s
7.) Murray has the good fortune of having AJ Green
8.) Murray has the good fortune that he is not relying on WM to stop the other team so that we can get the ball back
9.) Murray has the good fortune of having the best PK in America
10.)Murray has the good fortune in knowing the job is his
We need to support him. Let the haters bash away. Meyer wanted him and didn’t get him.
Those are the facts.
Gatorbait 17-3
June 22nd, 2010
6:13 pm
Florida only wanted Murrary because he would bring Charles with him, now that’s
a football player.
Bulldog59
June 22nd, 2010
6:17 pm
Bill….one of your best articles.
DawginLex….good points
Bottom line for Murray, no question he has physical tools, but he has to heed the advice of CMR and Green. Specifically, don’t turn a bad play into a catastrophe. He should have learned that from at least 1 play in the G-Day game.
Murray will be better than expected and so will the Dawgs.
jason
June 22nd, 2010
6:53 pm
More important than having Ealy and King in the back field, Murray will have 2 outstanding recieving TEs to throw to. I can see alot of 2 TE sets with hand-off pass options. Green will be huge for defending the blitz. Also the FBs as hot reads. All this with a vet OL and Murray is in about a perfect situation as a inexperienced QB can be.
rogeriter
June 22nd, 2010
7:17 pm
Fromthebarstool,
I’m sorry. I didn’t catch which pro team you played for. Or even what college team. Please enlighten us. Or are you still in high school?
I’ll bet whatever team you follow has had good college players that never made it in the pros. I know Florida has. So has bama. Then, of course , there is tech!
Either way, the lowest sub on any team–high school, college or pro is better than you. And they have more class.
Spike
June 22nd, 2010
7:26 pm
Sounds like Greene would make a good coach someday.
Can you dig it?
June 22nd, 2010
7:28 pm
I’ll take Murray over Brantley all day long in the inexperienced QB battle…..Dawgs will be just fine at QB…Murray is a competitor. I’ve seen Brantley play…has happy feet in the pocket…..Florida’s gonna miss Tebow…no more miracle worker to help them pull out close games…Can You Dig It!
Hey, Gatorbait 17-3
June 22nd, 2010
8:15 pm
Gatorbait 17-3
June 22nd, 2010
6:13 pm
Florida only wanted Murrary because he would bring Charles with him, now that’s
a football player.
Look up Orson’s #’s his junior year at Riverview H.S. down here in the Tampa area…Murray and Charles hooked up during the summer. Charles was a total unknown, until he got together with Murray and the coach at Plant who took him to 7 on 7’s throughout the summer. Take a look at Murray’s junior year and the numbers he put up where a Winter kid caught 95 passes and got a scholarship to Auburn. There was a Green kid off that team that went to Central Mich due to Murray’s passing to him. By the way Charles had 12 catches for 400 yds and 3 td’s. Transferred to Plant and caught 75 for about 1500 yds and 23 tds. Murray was hurt part of the year, but coming out of the summer’s 7 on 7’s everyone wanted Charles due to what he and Murray accomplished over the summer. At every 7 on 7 the receivers were lined up to get on the same team as Murray and Charles. In Portland Nike 7on7, the Murray/Charles team disseminated Barkley’s team from Calif. Carson Palmer and TJ Houshmandzadeh raved about Murray and followed Murray down to the Elite 11. While in Portland the buzz was so great about Murray that Lebron James wanted introduced to this hot shot QB. Colt McCoy raved about Murray. Everyone wanted him and yet he chose UGA , who appears to have some of the worst fans of any college around by the comments on this blog. Some of you guys are really sorry as for getting behind your players. The guy is your starting QB!
Oompa Loompa Dawg
June 22nd, 2010
8:17 pm
Murray the Midget will need to borrow some of those Elton John shoes of the 70’s so he can see over the offensive line. Expect a lot of batted balls dawg fans !
Buckhead Bulldog
June 22nd, 2010
8:29 pm
Great article, Bill. Two really good articles in one week. Thanks!
David Greene is just a pure CLASS act. I loved watching the ‘ice man’ do his thing….That pass to Michael Johnson in the back of Auburn’s endzone in 2002 with a buck twenty-five left was sooooo beautiful. Hopefully, Murray can absorb some of Greene’s knowledge and coolness.
Buckhead Bulldog
June 22nd, 2010
8:50 pm
I love the Greene/Johnson play so much I had to watch it again. If Murray can just pull a few of these off in his career….Man!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEEkdFLWiFA
Delbert D.
June 22nd, 2010
8:56 pm
Testing:1,2…
Dostoyevskiy
June 22nd, 2010
9:01 pm
I guess Fran Tarkenton was too short to be a good qb as well. Get a brain, height rarely is a factor in whether or not a qb is a good one.
Delbert D.
June 22nd, 2010
9:02 pm
DawginLex – I posted a reply to your 6:01 a couple of hours ago, and I guess it went into some other galaxy. I started to say something about “facts” and “probabilities” but I ended up just agreeing with you.
Oompa Loompa Dawg
June 22nd, 2010
9:10 pm
Dostoy….. Get with the times bro. Fran played eons ago and its totally different now. Get a brain dude !
KJ
June 22nd, 2010
10:51 pm
“Expect a lot of batted balls dawg fans !”
Well, if anyone’s the expert on “batted balls”, I’m sure it’s you, sweet boy.
AltamahaDawg
June 22nd, 2010
11:00 pm
“facts” and “probabilities” do seem to vanish for days on end in here sometimes.
A Pawsitive Experience
June 22nd, 2010
11:14 pm
The Paw says it all !! How bout them Clemson Tigers in Omaha !!!!! Whipped them puppies too !
A Pawsitive Experience
June 22nd, 2010
11:17 pm
Kyle Parker Rules !
dan
June 23rd, 2010
12:06 am
I don’t think we should read too much into the G-Day game. I mean Carlton Thomas and Justin Houston had beast games last year and that didn’t translate on the field in 2009. Conversely, I was ready to throw in the towel Caleb King, who had a garbage game in G-Day 2009, but he had a decent season down the stretch. Spring games are a measure of progress, but they certainly do not always paint an accurate picture of how a player will perform during a season.
P.S. I think Mettenberger would have been a disaster as our QB. He has the arm but he’s slow and un-athletic in the pocket. And more importantly he is a very immature young man, and players like that get exposed on the field. Mettenberger getting cut in the offseason was the best thing that could have happened, because there is no doubt that Bozo would have done something stupid during the season( i.e. Jeremiah Masoli from Oregon) and that’s the last thing Richt or this team needs.
dan
June 23rd, 2010
12:09 am
And No No No… a thousand times NO to Logan Gray as our QB! The kid is a good athlete, but a lousy QB.
AlaskaDawg
June 23rd, 2010
12:27 am
ATH and from the barstool are way off base. I guess things are so lame in Tech land that they have to pollute the Dawg Blawg. You guys need to get a life and find some other blog to hang out on. Murray will be steady. Give him a year and he can be special. I don’t remember Eric Zeier or Doug Flutie being very tall and both of them had outstanding NCAA careers. Let’s give Murray some time to develop.
Bulldog59
June 23rd, 2010
7:47 am
Gatorbait 17-3…. “Florida only wanted Murray because he would bring Charles with him…..”
That actually made me laugh out loud. Good one.
'94 UGA Grad
June 23rd, 2010
8:39 am
Hey Canton Dawg,
Thank you for your post on Joe Cox. He wasn’t nearly as bad as people on these blogs make him out to be. He was the primary reason we won the ARK game and he was huge in the SC game as well. Our defense was the biggest issue last year and that problem has been addressed via the new coaching staff.
Big Boys Dont Cry !
June 23rd, 2010
9:00 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax3hok3qfxw&feature=related The midget will squall when the mighty Gators puts another beat down on the mutts in Jacksonville 1
JAXDAWG
June 23rd, 2010
9:04 am
FromtheBARstool:
Hahahaha. Marketing and International Sales? So do you even have a job right now? Also, I think that Greene making it to the NFL as a backup is a much better performance than Double A. There are 3 QBs per team and 32 teams. Do the math, you should be able to do it since yuo have that all so sophisticated Marketing degree. Hah. There are countless double-A teams with 25 players or more on each roster. In my opinion Greene made it to the big time even if for a minute. You, however, didn’t even make it out of Double-A, not even good enough to be a career minor leaguer either. POT CALLING THE BETTER KETTLE BLACK. What a loser, good luck finding work in that International Sales field.
1eyedJack
June 23rd, 2010
9:07 am
Poor Ol’ Joe was too short to be a “pocket passer”. Murray will not be a pure pocket passer. CMR and CMB better be rolling out the rollouts, misdirection, and play action plays in the playbook.
Or they could just hand it to Washaun or throw it to AJ and let them do the heavy lifting.
JAXDAWG
June 23rd, 2010
9:10 am
Why do fans of other teams come on here and talk about UGA football. FromtheBARstool has never seen the name MurrAy spelled before. It may be on of the most common names around. This isn’t a typo I’ve seen him do this before. Also, why would you not believe that MurrAy was recruited by UF and Bama? He was the MVP of the Elite 11 QB camp. For those who are casual fans its a camp with the 11 best QBs, including the ones you mentioned. MurrAy was ranked higher in all recruiting services higher than McCarron or the players’ name you have failed to say because you don’t know. So I think that we will leave who is better to those who know football and not some Techie Engineer or backwaters swamp rat who gets his information from the brilliant newpaper and journalists in Gainesville or Tuscaloosa.
Dostoyevskiy
June 23rd, 2010
9:52 am
Will Lemay make the same mistake Cox did by going to UGa instead of UNC. Cox would have played 3-4 yrs at UNC (instead of Atlanta’s TJ Yates), and would have achieved more in the end. He would have been respected by UNC fans and would have left a legacy of sorts in NC. He languished on the bench at UGa, getting to play only one year, and he left there a whipping boy and in disgrace (if you listen to the fans). Will Lemay play behind Murray for 3 yrs, or will he transfer, or will he even enroll at UGa. He’d better matriculate at Appalachian St. and succeed Edwards. UNC has already recrutied a hot-shot QB in Everett Golston, who might end up playing behind another redshirt soph, Bryn Renner.
PowerDawg
June 23rd, 2010
12:52 pm
Hey JAXDAWG-
You hit the nail square on the head, dude. I usually just chuckle about some of these idiots from “other” teams.
But sometimes, morons need to be exposed for the jealous, pitiable liars that they are.
Thanks for speaking up about chicken-chokers like FromtheBARstool.
GATA