Talking with the QBs: ‘I believe in my heart I can win the job,’ Logan Gray says
(Third in a series.)
It’s been an interesting year for Logan Gray. The 2009 season started with many Georgia football fans calling for him to play more in relief of -– or in place of –- senior quarterback Joe Cox. And the season ended with rumors swirling that Gray would switch positions before spring practice, leaving quarterback for perhaps wide receiver.
Turned out, the calls for more playing time were unheeded and the rumors were overblown.
So after a 2009 season that saw him rarely on the field, Gray, who will be a redshirt junior in the fall, looks forward to a spring competition with Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger, both of whom will be redshirt freshmen, to succeed Cox as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback. (Note: Recent signee Hutson Mason, the record-setting Lassiter quarterback, won’t arrive in Athens until the summer.)
Gray, Mettenberger and Murray met last week with beat reporters who cover the Bulldogs. I’ve previously posted transcripts of the sessions with Murray (click here if you missed it) and Mettenberger (click here if you missed it). Now, here’s the interview with Gray, a dual-threat quarterback who signed with the Bulldogs out of Rock Ridge High School in Columbia, Mo., and, it should be recalled, was rated the nation’s seventh best QB prospect by ESPN as a high school senior.
There’s been so much talk about a position switch. Did you think a lot about that, or were you a quarterback in your mind all along?
Gray: I’ve thought about it some. I think ultimately I just want to try to do what’s best for me and what’s best for our team and helping out the team. I’ve thought about it, and nothing has really changed, dating back to anytime really. I’m planning on playing quarterback. If it doesn’t work, I’m not, like, opposed to playing receiver or trying to play defense or whatever it may be. Ultimately I just want to try to help the team win and, you know, contribute.
Did the coaches leave a decision on a possible position switch up to you?
Gray: The coaches never really even confronted me about the whole issue. It was kind of interesting that all this whirlwind talk started brewing up and everything because it seemed to me like Coach [Mike] Bobo was planning on me playing quarterback through the spring. . . . This spring I am planning on playing quarterback.
So how do you view the quarterback competition going into the spring?
Gray: I feel like obviously we’re looking for a starting quarterback, and I feel like I can compete for it. And after last year, I didn’t get quite as much experience as I would have liked, but I feel like I’m ready to go this spring and I’m excited about spring practice and what’s going to happen. Obviously we get caught up so much in these individual battles and stuff that we forget sometimes that we’re still Georgia and the whole goal is to win games and get better as a team. Obviously I want the best player at quarterback to play who’s going to help us. If it’s not me, I’m going to try to contribute any other way I can.
How did you cope with all the will-he-switch-positions talk?
Gray: There’s always going to be stories coming up about something. That just kind of got brought up somehow. It didn’t really bother me. I stopped talking to the media for a little bit at the end of last year, just to let it all clear over and not be a distraction from the team or anything like that. Like I said, I’ve just let it all smooth over . . . and we’ll see what happens on the field before everybody starts talking about this or that.
Do you see the quarterback competition as all three candidates being on an even keel, or inside the program do people view someone as the favorite to win the job?
Gray: I would like to hope that everything is on an even keel, but obviously the coaches have in mind what they think is going to be best for the team. So we’ll see what happens. Really, there’s nothing that me or Zach or Aaron can do besides give it our best shot and do everything we can to prove to the coaches we should be the No. 1 guy. I guess all you can really worry about is yourself. I’m just trying to focus on what I can do and not worry about what other people are doing.
How did you stay positive after not playing as much as you thought you would last season?
Gray: I think everybody on our team has just got to keep a straight-ahead mindset going, especially after a tough year last year. There were a lot of things, besides me maybe not getting as much playing time as I would have liked, that just didn’t go our way. But obviously dwelling on anything that happened in the past is not going to get me anywhere, so I’ve just been trying to work hard this offseason and do what I can to get better and get stronger and get faster and make sure there’s no way they can keep me off the field, even if it’s not quarterback.
How much pressure did you feel last season when you’d get on the field for such short stints [i.e., one play]?
Gray: That was one of the toughest parts actually. You’d come in for a play, and maybe that play didn’t work. Maybe you got a zero-yard gain on a run play or something. You’d try not to, but you’d be stressing because you’d want to make something happen so bad so that you could get more plays or get more opportunities. . . . We’ve all got a clean slate coming into this year. And we’re 0-0, so get back to work. And spring practice will just ultimately be big in deciding what’s going to happen in the future.
How much have Aaron and Zach grown as quarterbacks [since enrolling at UGA in January 2009]?
Gray: They’ve definitely grown a ton. I think coming in early helped both of them a lot. They’ve been through spring practice before. Just maturing from from a knowing-what-to-do standpoint and a comfort standpoint is probably the biggest thing. I think that’s with any young quarterback; it takes a little while to get the comfort behind center that it takes to be successful with the game speed that goes on.
The three of you bring different things to the table. Will that make the competition potentially harder to judge?
Gray: Possibly. Maybe you’d see exactly where everybody stood if they all had the tall, strong arm or [were a] fast guy like maybe me. I think ultimately the coaches are looking for who is going to be the most consistent, who’s going to be a leader of this team, who’s going to be able to provide playmaking skills that will help us win ballgames. Whether they get it done one way or the other way, whoever is getting it done best is going to be the guy.
Just to be clear, you expect to play quarterback exclusively this spring?
Gray: Yes. Yes.
You expect to win the starting job?
Gray: Yeah, I think you’ve got to have that mindset. If you’re not expecting to win the battle, then there’s really not a reason to compete, you know what I mean? So I’m trying to do everything I can to win the job, and I believe in my heart that I can win the job. So we’ll just see what happens when it comes time to compete.
What do you think about sports fans’ tendency to focus on the newer guys [in this case, freshmen Murray and Mettenberger]?
Gray: It’s definitely something that [happens in] all sports. ‘What have you done for me lately?’ Or, ‘who is the new up-and-coming guy?’ There’s always going to be excitement about the young guy. It’s crazy that even people were saying stuff when Matthew Stafford was playing here or other great players [were playing here] at different positions: ‘We got this other guy coming in; he’s going to be really good.’ But that’s just a part of it. You can’t worry about it. . . . If you’re worried about other things beside yourself, you’re going to be focusing on the wrong thing.
Thanks for reading these interviews, folks.
Earlier:
Zach Mettenberger sees key as ‘who can . . . take us to a national title’
Aaron Murray sees improved passing accuracy as key to winning job
Please follow me on Twitter for the latest UGA news and notes.
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250 comments Add your comment
Correction
February 16th, 2010
9:53 am
How2fish
This is the quote you were trying to site, I particularly like the comment that
Georgia is trying to figure out what it is. Also, Cox was never 36-48 in passing, no ints,
7 TDs and 440 yards.
If you’re ever going to get to Florida, this is it with the phenomenal recruiting classes waiting in the wings. QB John Brantley has to live up to all the prep hype and be the NFL prospect that many consider him to be. However, he can be mediocre and the Gators will still likely win the East with a defense that remains loaded, and Tennessee in even more of an iffy phase and Georgia trying to figure out what it is.
Looks like more years of pain on the way. Here the link if you care to read it.
http://cfn.scout.com/2/945236.html
Meyer 0-2 Against Auburn
February 16th, 2010
9:54 am
Uh huh, Brantley, experienced? Ha!
His “46 passes” were against Charleston Southern, Troy & Fla Intl.
His High School career was against 2B level comeptition.
He has ZERO experience. ZERO.
Carty
February 16th, 2010
9:55 am
2011-Shreveport, Chic-fil-A, Shreveport, Chick-fil-A, Shreveport, Chick-fil-A!
John Brantley's "Gatorade Jinx"...
February 16th, 2010
9:56 am
Interesting fact.
30+ players have won the Gatorade Player of the Year over the last 30 years.
None have ever gone on to lead their team to a National Championship.
John Brantley is in that category. Congrats.
Correction
February 16th, 2010
9:57 am
AltamahaDawg
Since the second place SEC team last year was the Greatest team in History, I suppose finishing second to USC would also qualify for Greatest Recruiting Class in History too.
Can you please explain that comment, it’s confusing?
Correction
February 16th, 2010
9:58 am
Meyer 0-2 Against Auburn
Now Patrick, go take your pills, you are getting all worked up.
How2fish
February 16th, 2010
10:02 am
Carty I don’t think the Bugs make it to a bowl game this year or 2011..so to the Bug Village Shreveport, Chic-fil-A, would look pretty good…well except they would lose again..but that doesn’t seem to matter to them anyway.
How2fish
February 16th, 2010
10:06 am
Correction no that is not what I was saying I said JB and Joe Cox were both long time backups..and look how that worked out for Cox …playing against Charleston Southern, Troy & Fla Intl is NOT SEC experience…and crowning JB King of the SEC on his existing body of work was nuts…thanks but that is what I meant.
JB
February 16th, 2010
10:06 am
Hopefully a strong running game will help our young QB time to mature, but that Second game at Carolina is worrisome. If we can run the ball against them , I think we win. I think our NEW DB coach from UCONN, who shut down Garcia in the bowl, will help greatly in game planning that week.
Meyer Chokes w/ 22 starters back in 2009
February 16th, 2010
10:18 am
Gators are stressing out about their October schedule:
Bama, LSU, Miss. St. & Georgia.
Florida could easily go 1-3, or 2-2 in Oct.
Yikes!
Meyer 0-2 Against Auburn
February 16th, 2010
10:19 am
South Carolina was last in the SEC in rushing and gave up 37 sacks. O-Line is bad.
Grantham will enjoy playing against them.
Carty
February 16th, 2010
10:23 am
Seriously How2fish, I’m a Gator not a Yellow Jacket, we win SEC & NC’s in a real conference. Secondly, I agree that Brantley has not proven himself yet and that ajusting to game speed in the SEC does take some getting use to, how long is up for debate. I like that fact that Brantley seems to have the tools but I’m sure he’ll take some time to adjust as all first year starters in the SEC do.
As it relates to Georgia, I’ll say what I’ve already said already. Richt is going to catch he#@ in 2011 when he looses 4-6 games, and it’s going to happen. It would make more sense to go with one of the RS freshmen to at least appease the fanbase for 2012 then waste any time with Gray. We’ve all seen Gray, Gray=Cox.
AltamahaDawg
February 16th, 2010
10:26 am
No. Just using the Gator Scale.
JB
February 16th, 2010
10:31 am
Carty………….. We agree about gray………They need a package or two for him, but he needs to be another Hines Ward his last two years at Georgia, not under center ( although Hines played some QB because there was no one else). We have a couple of good QB’s.
Correction
February 16th, 2010
10:32 am
Meyer Chokes w/ 22 starters back in 2009 aka Patrick
Gators are stressing out about their October schedule:
WHAT ARE YOU A MIND READER NOW, NOT SATISFIED TO MAKE
UP STATS AND RECORDS.
Relax Dawg fans
February 16th, 2010
10:33 am
Carty – don’t you think CMR and Bobo are more qualified to put the best player on the field over any of us? I do!
The UGA coaching staff will have the best possible players on the field and no matter how much we all “think” player X is not the best, my guess is we are wrong.
The only reason I see Gray as the long shot is because Cox was not having a great year and we didn’t see a change then. I think one of the freshmen will end up on the field. Which one I don’t know and really don’t care as long as they are the best to win games.
Correction
February 16th, 2010
10:38 am
AltamahaDawg
Don’t make the Gators the number 2 class just yet, that big 5 star tackle hasn’t signed and
and he won’t until he finds out how bad the NCAA will come down on USC.
How2fish
February 16th, 2010
10:47 am
Correction I agree about that tackle if he pulls out of USC and goes UF(god forbid) the Gators will have the no.1 class without doubt..Carty if Grey gets the start I can’t help but think CMR and Bobo thinks he is the man for the job…however if they do and they lose 4-6 games I agree it will be ugly .
Correction
February 16th, 2010
10:54 am
Correction
A tip of the hat, you are one of the few sane and reasonable
folks on this blog—sorry Patrick, you don’t qualify.
AltamahaDawg
February 16th, 2010
10:58 am
I’m not making anyone #1 or #2. I don’t care.
But for the record the moniker never was “The Greatest Recruiting Class in the HISTORY of the Organized Game IF…..”
I’m just saying, if its that close, then maybe it’s just a really really great class, and lets leave the superlatives to the folks who have crafted a living by concocting such.
SEC East Headlines – 2/16/10 « MrSEC.com
February 16th, 2010
11:05 am
[...] 2005-06, Florida has gone just 16-16 in February games.4. Logan Gray believes in his heart that he can win the three-man Georgia quarterback battle.5. Georgia center Albert Jackson — arrested last week — should be back in action [...]
Youth Man
February 16th, 2010
11:34 am
Correction Aka Patrick/how2fis/altmah dawg/carty aliases-
You write the most useless drivel on this site. Why do you waste our time? Why can’t you post at least one well thought out post?
How2fish
February 16th, 2010
11:43 am
Youth Man pound sand…I’ve never seen any wisdom out of you! Oh and I’m only how2fish you can think you only have 1 detractor but we are LEGION!
Youth Man
February 16th, 2010
11:44 am
I love the guy that keeps slammin Florida with all these powerful stats.
Dude the facts don’t lie, Meyer ain’t done squat without Percy Harvin and it ain’t looking good for Florida.
If Georgia is “so bad”, why do the Gator guys flock to this site with all their postings and useless drivel?
puppypoo
February 16th, 2010
11:57 am
CMR needs to get Rodney back to being the bag man we all know he can be. Remember when Terry’s story came out from the Farm, Rodney was THE MAN for Bobby Lowder, there’s no saying he cant get back in form. Why dont we hire parents like UF does w/ Shands? CMR needs to get more involved in recruiting the *right* way.
dawgrific
February 16th, 2010
11:58 am
I have said it before, and here it goes again……I too thought that experience was pretty important, but things worked out OK for bama last year playing a very young and inexperienced QB, aye?! Get the rest of the team playing solid, mistake-free football, run the ball effectively and consistently, and remember how to cover people and tackle on Defense, and our QB situation will be JUST FINE.
#1 gATOR fAN
February 16th, 2010
12:08 pm
LOOK i AM THE #1 gATOR FAN BUT BEING STRAIGHT UP, gATORS IWLL LOSE 3 OR 4 GAMES N 2010. bUT i EXPECT gATOR nARTION TO COME BACK STRONG IN 2011.
2010 IS GEORGIA’S YEAR. THAT’S REALITY.
puppypoo
February 16th, 2010
12:09 pm
I agree, Georgia will win it all in 2010.
Carty
February 16th, 2010
12:10 pm
I am impressed with Grantham and the defensive coaching staff. They should win it all in 2010. Gators will be back in 2012.
Correction
February 16th, 2010
12:11 pm
I’ve had a change of heart. Big Georgia fan, that’s why I spend so much time here on thiese blogs.
UGA IN 2010–CHAMPS AGAIN.
How2fish
February 16th, 2010
12:11 pm
I don’t kno how to fish, but the dogs in 2010 ewill know how to win.
Georgia, champs in 2010. I also agree.
How2fish
February 16th, 2010
12:21 pm
Its sort of a tribute when a moron steals your name to post drivel…I have never picked a UGA team to be NC…not even in 1980…not that I don’t hope we might but I’d never bet on it.
Lamda Lamda Lamda
February 16th, 2010
12:29 pm
Tech will be National Champs in 2010!
GDawg
February 16th, 2010
1:06 pm
Am I the only person who watched the couple plays Logan Gray played at QB last year. He is absolutely awful! I mean really really bad. And I don’t get why he is seen as benig so athletic. If he was so athletic we would play him somewhere else other than on our safe punt return team where all he ever did was fair catch the ball. So it comes down to Mettenberger and Murray. You guys know exactly who Mettenberger is. Another Joe T. Average at best. Both are from the athens area. Both have family who work in the football office. And both were ranked pretty similar coming out of high school. If we want to be really good we will go with Murray. If we want to play it safe and rely on D and running the football then Richt and Bobo will start Mettenberger. Which will be a shame because Murray is a really good QB. But that seems to be what we like to do at Georgia, play the safe player instead of the athlete. And then we all sit around and wonder why we don’t get the athletes that Florida gets. Our athletes are Logan Grey’s while there athletes are Percy Harvin.
UGA Grad
February 16th, 2010
1:30 pm
The real issue that needs to be addressed is who is going to be UGA VIII! I don’t know why we don’t just make Russ the next mascot, he is undeafeted!
AltamahaDawg
February 16th, 2010
2:57 pm
“Dude the facts don’t lie, Meyer ain’t done squat without Percy Harvin and it ain’t looking good for Florida.”
…..and this is useful, non-drivel, and well thought out?
I’ll try to conform to this template going forward.
AltamahaDawg
February 16th, 2010
3:18 pm
Not sure what kind of starting QB Gray would make, but I would say he would get a lot more opportunities than the several impossible situations they put him in last year.
Wouldn’t Boykin, Smith, AJ Green, Ealey, Charles, Figgins, several linemen, All of whom played as Frosh, be good examples of playing the best athelete? There were certainly safer guys on the roster.
AltamahaDawg
February 16th, 2010
3:23 pm
And why would starting Mett be safer than Murray? Seems to me the exact opposite if you are in fact going to rely on D and running game.
Carty
February 16th, 2010
6:40 pm
So he’s supposed to say what? Unless the author of this article is under instructions from Mark Richt, this is off season fodder desighned to fill in the off-season. Logan Gray = Joe Cox
Carty
February 16th, 2010
6:42 pm
“Dude the facts don’t lie, Meyer ain’t done squat without Percy Harvin and it ain’t looking good for Florida.”
See Sugar Bowl, God this is too easy!
THE YELLOW SWARM
February 16th, 2010
8:01 pm
GRANTHAM, MURRAY, METTENBERGER, GRAY, = = = = = maybe yes maybe no
PAUL JOHNSON, AL GROH, ANDY McCOLLUM, JOE SPEED == == == HELL YES
THE SWARM BE WITH YOU!!!!!!!
T. Clarke
February 16th, 2010
9:00 pm
Let me clear this up for all the Georgia fans out there. Our QB situation last year comes down to 3 guys (and none of them play for the Dawgs). Who? Bradford, McCoy, & Tebow. I think the UGA coaches all thought these guys were going to turn pro and Stafford would stay at UGA. But these guys decided to come back to school which left a huge pot of money out there for Stafford to retrieve (and he did). They didn’t get Grey ready to play because they didn’t think they’d need him. The same thing happened to USC. Sanchez jumped ship also. But you can’t blame them. Money talks!
Jimmy
February 16th, 2010
9:09 pm
After reading the blog for the past three days and all of the posts, nobody is mentioning what will be the most important factor in determining how successfull the Dawgs QB(and offense overall) will be this coming year.
If the Dawgs can carry the momentum over from last year in our running game, the offense will be successful no matter who the QB is.
Look at the MNC’s from the past four years; LSU, Florida and Bammer. Besides awesome defense, it was the running game that lead them.
These teams would establish a solid ground game, wearing out opposing defenses and setting up their passing games. When it was 3rd & 2 late in the game. What would those three teams do. Run Hester, Teabags and Mark Ingram up the middle. They knew it, their opponents knew it, the fans knew it, and they did it anyway and would convert the first down.
If UGA can establish their running game like they did the final four games of the season, the QB(whomever he is) won’t have as much pressure put on him. Later in the season Bobo can start to open up the passing game, even opening up a game passing out of play action.
I don’t know about yall, but i’m not comfortable putting the South Carolina(2nd game of the season) game in the hands of a red shirt freshman. Give the ball to Ealey and King and let them pound it.
That game at Tech last year was beautiful, starting the game running nine consecutive times(or whatever it was) leading to a scoring drive off of the 1st possesion. It sent a message; We’re going to hit you in the face and when you get back up, we’re going to hit you again!
call it ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ if you want, but we all know that despite all of these challenging passing schemes out of spread formations, the running game is still wear its at.
Now, if we can just do something about that defense!
Jimmy
February 16th, 2010
9:10 pm
Wow, my last post was almost as long as BuLLdawgs posts. Hopefully mine wasn’t as rambling. haha
Jimmy
February 16th, 2010
9:13 pm
From my 1st post in the bottom paragraph; where=wear, for you grammar natzies. Now I am sounding like BuLLdawg. Geez.
Florida Wins Again
February 16th, 2010
9:50 pm
It doesn’t matter who UGA puts out there at QB—Florida’s ball hawking D will eat him alive and the florida O will roll up and down the field, as usual. Fla 43 Ga 19–take it to the bank.
Gators Don't Do Well in the NFL
February 16th, 2010
10:50 pm
UF’s a bust in the NFL. Here’s an article that shows the Gators don’t do well in the NFL:
http://blogs.chron.com/fantasyfootball/2010/02/it_feels_great_to_draft_a_flor.html
Reasons for optimism about the upcoming Georgia Football Season « Football on the Brain
February 17th, 2010
7:01 am
[...] Talking with the QBs: ‘I believe in my heart I can win the job,’ Logan Gray says- Tim Tucker, AJ… Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Thoughts about Georgia vs South CarolinaThursday NotesYes, Even More Talk of “Team before Me” in Athens#16 Georgia [...]
patrick M Sulley
February 17th, 2010
8:15 pm
hi there fellas
Yellow Fuzz
February 18th, 2010
8:12 am
While watching the US speed skater win the gold medal last night (by 18-hundreths of a second) over the South Korea guy, I couldn’t help but wonder if that would have qualified as a severe “a$$ kicking” or “beat down” if he had been from uga.
Hahahahahahahahahahahhahaahhaahahhahahahaha