Quarterback Gray will stay at UGA, double as a wide receiver (UPDATED)
(Updated 6:45 p.m.)
MACON — Georgia backup quarterback Logan Gray, after considering the possibility of transferring to another school for the past few weeks, has decided to remain at UGA, where he’ll double as a wide receiver.
Gray informed coach Mark Richt of his decision by phone Wednesday morning.
Richt said in an interview before a Bulldog Club meeting here Wednesday night that Gray will have a dual role with the Bulldogs.
“He’s our second-team quarterback in my mind,” Richt said. “Logan has three years of knowledge in our system. He’s a very capable quarterback, so it’s nice to know that he’s there for that purpose.
“But he would like to spend some time at receiver. I think he feels like he might have a better chance of helping us there. So I’m fine with that, I really am.”
Gray, a junior, began considering the possibility of transferring after being listed as the No. 2 quarterback behind redshirt freshman Aaron Murray on Georgia’s depth chart at the end of spring practice.
Richt said Wednesday night that he doesn’t know yet how Gray’s practice and meetings time will be divided this fall between quarterback and receiver. Richt said he expects Gray to work mostly at receiver this summer as he tries to learn the position, adding that Gray “isn’t going to forget what to do at quarterback.”
Richt conceded that Gray’s interest in playing receiver limits his chances of beating out Murray for the starting quarterback job, although most observers felt those chances were slim anyway.
“If [Gray] is practicing at receiver all day long,” Richt said Wednesday night, “then there’s not a very good chance” of becoming the No. 1 quarterback.
He added: “The way things are shaping up, it looks like Murray is the guy, doesn’t it?”
Later, in his remarks to the Bulldog Club gathering, Richt said Murray “is certainly in the driver’s seat [and] most likely will be the starter.”
Gray’s thoughts of transferring caused much concern in Bulldog Nation because Gray and Murray are the only scholarship quarterbacks currently in the UGA program. Hutson Mason, a recruit from Marietta’s Lassiter High School, arrives this summer, and Richt said Mason can compete for the backup quarterback job “when he learns what to do.”
Gray said in a written statement that he decided to stay at UGA “because I truly do love being a Georgia Bulldog. I want to be a part of this team getting back to the SEC championship game and winning it.
“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.”
Said Richt: “I’m really excited about Logan wanting to stay and for the reasons he is staying. When he called me [Wednesday] morning, I said: ‘Tell me why you decided to stay.’ He said, ‘I love Georgia; I love my teammates; I think we can win; I want to win; I want to be there.’
“Those were all the right reasons to stay.”
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219 comments Add your comment
dawgfacedboy
May 13th, 2010
9:32 am
In an “all about me” sports world these days it’s nice to find selfless athletes. Good luck to you Logan.
murray county mystic
May 13th, 2010
9:49 am
who ever is advising this kid has and is doing him a great disservice…first, by talking him into going to UGA (Richt?) when they knew he would not be a fit at QB; secondly, talking him into staying at UGA (Richt?) so he can be an insurance policy for the redneck nation…one day soon he will wake up and realize he was just a pawn for the “preacher”, who never really had his best interest in mind…sorry Logan, but I doubt being a bench-riding DGD was what you had in mind when you had stacks of offers on your table coming out of high school. You got played by the “preacher”…
Gatorbait 17-3
May 13th, 2010
9:59 am
Some fool said he thought the dawgs would be 9-0 after the
Florida game-I wish I could get that bet.
More likely the dawgs will have 3 SEC losses coming into the
game and 4 afterwards. It is nice to dream though.
Ten at 10: Logan Gray news means 2nd 2011 QB unlikely for UGA | AJC College Sports Recruiting
May 13th, 2010
10:00 am
[...] Georgia will sign another quarterback in its 2011 class decreased with Monday’s news that quarterback Logan Gray has decided to remain with the Bulldogs. Gray, a fourth-year junior, had been contemplating a transfer or full-time position change since [...]
jasont13
May 13th, 2010
10:03 am
murray county mystic- Your post is funny and not well thought out. Have you ever played an organized sport or better yet, have you ever been recrutied by a school to get an education and or play a sport? Probably not! It was Logan Gray’s choice to accept a scholarship from UGA, he went there knowing he would have to compete for a starting QB job. Do you know what all it entails to transfer from one school to another, and especially for an athlete? Nope didn’t think so. From making sure your credit hours tranfer in, to meeting new friends, to a system that you’ve never ran, to coaches and players you’ve never met. Logan did the best thing for himself and not for Mark Richt. Since you and I were never in their meetings we have zero idea what was discussed. So you and your classless friends who have and will continue to post classless comments need to get your facts straight before you press submit.
As for name callling, it just shows how classless you are!
jasont13
May 13th, 2010
10:05 am
Gatorbait, I can post the same thing about Florida also. Both teams have a lot of un-knowns!!
jasont13
May 13th, 2010
10:07 am
Ha Ha, I love Gatorbait, how you said some FOOL, thought the Dogs could be 9-0 after the Florida game. Well its true they could and Florida could be 6-3 after that game. Funny how you look past the one word in the post (COULD).
Lew
May 13th, 2010
10:08 am
All the Gator fans are too funny, we can’t miss those posts, so obvious, “He should leave”, “he should transfer”, whatever.
Gray is staying. end of story. see ya on Oct. 30.
BAMA1
May 13th, 2010
10:09 am
Sounds like a good young man. Dedicated
SOOHSO
May 13th, 2010
10:51 am
Someone has to carry the clipboard!!
murray county mystic
May 13th, 2010
11:04 am
jasont13…if Logan stayed so he could be with his friends, he doesn’t have what it takes to be a SEC qb anyways. Is 13 your age? Reason being, your post made little sense. Mr. Gray should have never went to Athens; he’s a spread qb in some Pop Warner offense being run by Bobo and the “preacher”. Should have left when he got the playbook. Now, his only options are the Southern Conference (if he want’s to play relevent football; for the first time since high school), or stay to hold the clipboard and be an unpaid assistant to the “preacher”. Bet all his buddies back in Missouri can’t wait to get some of the $$$ windfall from his clipboard endorsement contract…idiot
Dave In Tampa
May 13th, 2010
11:19 am
I said it once and I’ll say it again. For you people thinking that Murray is injury prone, I’ve got news for you. He is not. He’s had the time to heal from the HS injury he had in which he came back well before hand in the State Championship game and won it. He is a tough, hard nosed kid. In addition, 6′1″ is not short. I hope people keep selling Murray short(no pun intended). I had a chance to see him here in Tampa and personally, I can’t wait to see him “Tween the Hedges” leading this team. Offense is not my worry, it’s the defense. We will score, but will we keep the other team from scoring?
As for Logan, I’m stoked that he is staying and it would behoove CMR to get him playing time at QB when possible. I think he would be a great receiver as well. He already knows the routes (how about a little end around, stop to throw a bomb to AJ for a TD. Sure gives you that extra threat at receiver)
Go Dawgs!
Delbert D.
May 13th, 2010
11:52 am
I can’t envision Mark Richt putting Logan Gray on the field while he is the only backup with knowledge of the offense. Maybe later in the year when one of the walk-ons or Mason has progressed sufficiently.
Adam
May 13th, 2010
12:15 pm
I’m not trying to sound racist but if a white kid is returning punts in the SEC he obviously must have good hands and definately have speed. That could turn out to be great as a WR. The kid just wants to play. Leave it at that.
Stuart
May 13th, 2010
12:34 pm
Think what kind of plays could be called.
Ace
May 13th, 2010
1:10 pm
Still outside the top 25.
SECFAN
May 13th, 2010
5:29 pm
Getting to play matters. Sure a UGA degree is good but 20 years down the road his playing time will be important too. Twenty years down the road where he was educated isn’t all that important.
james T. Kirk
May 14th, 2010
7:55 am
Doesn’t matter. He will only be sticking around for two more years to watch the Jackets run over his team.
Trojan Player
May 16th, 2010
5:36 pm
Whew…the Logan Gray issue had me worried. UGA continues to be a bonafied 2nd tier SEC team with or with out Logan Gray. Logan can’t play QB?? Please look at his numbers during the spring vs. that “new and improved” defense. Logan did good against them and he is not the player UGA will face this year at the QB position. We have no depth at QB and we have a defense that is all talk. I predict UGA will give up an average of 28+ points to the SEC teams we play. I hope we can score a bunch…