QB Aaron Murray spends summer honing craft with football’s finest
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray throws under the watchful eye of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo on Friday in Athens. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS – Georgia’s Aaron Murray lights up like a school kid when asked that age-old question, “what did you do this summer?”
Murray did a lot, and most of it involved a football.
The Bulldogs’ highly-decorated junior quarterback spent a lot of time working out and throwing balls to his Georgia teammates in Athens. But the highlight of his summer vacation was a two-week stretch in July spent with the Eli and Peyton Manning and the some of the best quarterbacks in college football.
Murray served as a counselor at both the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La., and the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp in Redondo Beach, Calif., in mid-July. For a football junkie like Murray, he was a kid in a candy store.
“It was great,” said Murray, who skipped SEC Football Media Days in order to attend the camps. “I got to do a little bit of everything at both camps. For the Manning camp I was more of a counselor working with kids. They had 1,200 kids there, middle school to high school, so I got to work with them.”
But he also got to work with the Manning brothers, as well as nine of the best quarterbacks in college football.
On two occasions, the famous Super-Bowl-winning brothers put the collegians through the paces and provided some invaluable one-on-one instruction.
“They showed us some drills and worked with us on our form if they saw something glaring,” Murray said. “So I got to work with two of the best in the game, which was awesome.”
Murray was joined in the southern Louisiana by Matt Barkley (USC), Tyler Bray (Tennessee), Bryan Bennett (Oregon), Mike Glennon (N.C. State), Zach Mettenberger (LSU), Keith Price (Washington), Geno Smith (West Virginia), Jeff Tuel (Washington State) and Tyler Wilson (Arkansas).
“It was a sight to see, all the talent we had with the quarterbacks out there,” Murray said. “Sitting back watching those guys throw was pretty cool, it was like a mini-combine. Every top quarterback that’ll be drafted the next two years was there, so it was definitely a pretty cool scene.”
Murray held his own. According to analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who covered the camp for NFL.com, Murray was one of the best.
“This junior is a good inch shorter than senior counterparts Barkley and Wilson, but he matched them throw for throw,” Jeremiah wrote. “He has very clean footwork in his drops, as well as a compact delivery. Murray can generate a lot of velocity and his accuracy was excellent at all three levels. I was surprised at how powerfully he threw the deep ball. Murray had as much range as any quarterback at the camp.”
In California, Murray got to be a teacher where he has been taught much. Murray first attended the Elite 11 camp as a ball boy in 2007, then won MVP honors there in 2008 as an invitee the summer before his senior year at Tampa’s Plant High.
While Murray was there this time under the pretense of coaching, he found himself receiving as much as he was giving.
“We did every drill, every 7-on-7 rep,” he said of his fellow college instructors, who were under the supervision of camp “head coach” Trent Dilfer. “We were dead after five days of waking up at 8 a.m., practicing, taking a break, practicing, then at night doing 7-on-7. It was really like camp for us.”
With Murray’s “vacations” behind him, it’s time to concentrate on real football. He had a great sophomore season for the Bulldogs, accumulating 3,149 yards and 35 touchdowns. But six of his 14 interceptions came in Georgia’s four losses, so he’s looking to bring down those numbers down while bringing up his accuracy (60 percent for career).
“I worked on a little fundamental work, learned some new drills and tweaked some things here and there,” Murray said. “I feel great. It was a lot of hard work and I think I gained a lot from it.”
- Notes: Dantzler, Theus battle at RT; Malcome misses Crowell
- Kolton Houston ineligible due to banned substance (with video)
- Notes: OLB Chase Vasser out 2 games for DUI in May
- Bulldogs’ top five priorities heading into camp
- Georgia contacted Penn State about 19 players
- 10 Things About linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti
- Bulldogs no longer pursuing Penn State players
- WR Tavarres King eager to pick up where he left off
- Former UGA DB Chris Sanders dismissed at GMC
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116 comments Add your comment
BandWagon
August 4th, 2012
9:07 am
Aikman transferred to another team, are you saying Murray should transfer too?
Game Changer
August 4th, 2012
9:10 am
ALOT OF FLAWS WITH THE PICTURE OF MURRAY ABOVE PASSING. If AM is to get better he needs to start with technique which is terrible. Please tell everyone this is not a current photo of AM passing.
Throwing shoulder should be high
Whole weight transfer is backwards, not forward
Long motion occuring to make pass
Ball is below hand in the passing motion, ball should be on top or point forward, not upside down
Legs are spread wide open, allows for no drive forward through the pass
Already very short, must stand tall and upright to be QB, eye level in picture is less than 5′5″ (poor)
PITIFUL———— 3 years and this
BandWagon
August 4th, 2012
9:11 am
Huston Mason played in the 2nd half of games. Among SEC QBs, Hutson Mason was ranked in the top 5 in 2nd half in both accuracy and passer rating, higher than Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson.
Destin Dawg
August 4th, 2012
9:17 am
yes Play Mason and LeMay to !!!
CHDawg
August 4th, 2012
9:19 am
When Murray makes the Heisman finalists this year, the haters will still be saying he stinks. They are haters; that is what they do, for whatever their motivation. This year could rank Murray at the top for UGA QBs in the last 50 years. He is already in the top five, imho.
Game Changer
August 4th, 2012
9:20 am
Hutson Mason’s parents should be scoulded for not finding a d1 school needing a top passing QB for transfer. Hutson Mason has until first day of school to transfer. Maybe Hutson Mason stayed around because he knew if AM got hurt he would be starter for 2012 and hold the position, but now that fall practice has started, AM will be the starting QB and play every play in 2012 as he did in 2011.
Mr. and Mrs. Mason — big mistake regarding the athletic future of Hutson
You have convinced me
August 4th, 2012
9:25 am
The analysis of “football experts” with an internet connection on here certainly overrules Spurrier, Saban, Miles, other SEC coaches who rank Murray as one of the two best in the SEC, not to mention the NFL scout quoted in the article, or the NFL scouts who rank Murray highly.
To be kind, judging someone on spring practices which were not likely observed by any posters here, speaks of a kind of football naiveté that will maybe be overcome with more maturity and experience watching the game.
Gamechanger’s technical points also made a believer out of me. What does Richt know about quarterbacking? Coaching two Heisman trophy winners, a #1 overall draft pick, and one of the winningest QBs in the history of college football certainly does not stack up with the expertise we see on this board.
Joey
August 4th, 2012
9:25 am
Good Lord, BandWagon, give it a rest. it doesn’t matter what Murray does in the spring games – he is a 2-year starter, and is the QB.
I’d like to see Hutson play more in meaningful games, but it ain’t gonna happen, unless Murray gets injured, then the redshirt comes off.
About Hutson Mason
August 4th, 2012
9:29 am
The arrogance of posters on internet boards never ceases to astound. Some keyboard jockey now knows more than Mason and his parents about what is in his best interests. And has the gall to “scold” them for ignoring his advice.
Just maybe they like UGA, know Coach Richt’s resume with quarterbacks, and Hutson is willing to wait his turn, while learning from one of the best in the business, based not on some blogger’s opinion, but on actual results of quarterbacks who benefitted from CMR.
Joey
August 4th, 2012
9:37 am
If Hutson Mason is as talented as we think he is (I do cause I saw him play in high school), he will shine after Murray is gone. Meanwhile he has learned a pro-style offense and avoided injury – both important for his career.
He has the size (Dawgin Lex said he was every bit his listed 6′3″) and if the NFL thinks he has the arm strength, they won’t give a rip if he played or sat on the bench during his college days.
Hutson’s uncle, David Archer, was a NFL QB, and has been prepping Hutson for a pro career and it will probably happen when his days in Athens are over, no matter how much he plays at UGA.
TDawg
August 4th, 2012
9:48 am
To paraphrase NFL scout Jeremiah say Murray has clean footwork, compact delivery and generates velocity and accuracy. Must be pretty good. I have been to every home game and yes Mason looks good when he plays against Coastal Carolina, etc.
Of course if Mason ever starts the idiot bloggers will be calling for his backup too.
BandWagon
August 4th, 2012
10:00 am
Mason looked 2x better than Murray this Spring and on G-Day. Really hasn’t mattered what kind of teams Mason goes up against, head to head, he beats Murray 5 out 6 times whether it’s LSU, or G-Day, Mason has a higher passer rating than Murray. Mason owns all of the state records for td’s, yards, he’s tough to sack, doesn’t throw many interceptions, completed 72% his Sr year, and has owned Murray 5 out of the last 6 head to head match ups. Murray has mastered the art of inflated statistics by compling 70% of his yards & td’s against teams with losing records. Against top 20 competition, Murray has a career 0-9 record. No poise, no leadership in big games.
Destin Dawg
August 4th, 2012
10:03 am
Murray scrambles alot… will not bo able to play every Down.. Hutson will be ready… he does need to transfer.. he’ll play.. Go Dawgs !!
BandWagon
August 4th, 2012
10:03 am
ESPN’s KC Joyner isn’t high on Murray, rated him 2nd most overrated player nationally had this to say about Aaron Murray:
Murray saw a significant decrease in productivity when the statistics for Orson Charles and Malcolm Mitchell were removed from his metric mix. The best quarterbacks find a way to get high-level productivity out of second-tier players (as Brandon Weeden and Robert Griffin III did last season) and Murray has yet to show that he can do that. Moreover, his 7.8 overall yards per attempt average (YPA) for the season ranked only 32nd in the nation, behind returning SEC QBs Tyler Wilson and AJ McCarron and barely ahead of South Carolina’s Connor Shaw and Missouri’s James Franklin. So Murray may have some work to do in order to remain among the SEC’s best passers.
@gamechanger
August 4th, 2012
10:23 am
You are one of the most ignorant person that posts on these blogs. No place for 6′ 9″ 350 lb lineman on the field because he’s too big, Now criticizing the mechanics of a QB who has very good mechanics (try actually watching him play)and is coached by a coach that has 2 Heisman winners under his belt and a #1 overall Qb drafted . By the way how many Qbs have you coached? Have you ever thrown a football? Another one of you classic posts John Jenkins is academically ineligible and Georgia is facing major sanctions if they play him.
Dr. Clean
August 4th, 2012
10:25 am
Based on his clinic visits, I think he catches more than any UGA receiver.
About state records and Hutson Mason
August 4th, 2012
10:27 am
So using your logic, Washaun Ealey, by breaking some of Herschel Walker’s high school records, is better? Murray broke some of Tebow’s high school records, so are you implying Aaron is better than TT?
Its a conspiracy against Mason by Georgia coaches
August 4th, 2012
10:34 am
That’s the implication, if not the direct wording. Do you actually think that Mark Richt would play Aaron Murray over Mason, knowing that Mason would give him the better chance of winning, knowing that if he does not win enough, his job is on the line.
So Richt is ready to put millions at risk, simply because he prefers to play Murray over a better QB?
I am sorry but that is a hard sell for me, in fact I am not buying it.
By the way how many spring practices did you observe?
UGA alum here
August 4th, 2012
10:42 am
UGA will wind up with a 9-3 year and a Chic Fil A or Outback Bowl re do. CMR does not recruit the very basics every year and year after year. O linemen and O linemen.
CMR styles is to recruit fast wide outs and QBs that throw it all over the yard and some decent D but never great and one or two running backs and we end up getting worn down in the more physical SEC style of games and that is CMR’s flaw. He puts a 90s FSU style of team on the field in the far more rugged SEC.
UGA class of 71 & 73
BandWagon
August 4th, 2012
10:44 am
I saw Mark Richt choose Joe Terishinski over future #1 NFL Draft pick Matt Stafford, so seeing him stay with Murray over Hutson Mason is no surprise. I saw Mark Richt stay with Joe Cox when he had LSU’s Elite 11 QB Zach Mettenberger on the bench. Whatever reasoning Richt used then, he’s using again to stay with 0-9 against top 20 teams Murray, instead of the higher passer rating, more accurate, higher yards per carry, less sacks, less interceptions, QB Hutson Mason.
Joey
August 4th, 2012
11:48 am
Trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
That is Mark Richt’s offense. When you have a Greene, Shockley, and Stafford sized QB talent, fine. When you have Joe Cox and Aaron Murray sized QBs, you better rely on some roll-out, or spread offensive philosophies.
To illustrate the Richt-hard-headedness, we know that he recruited Cam Newton as a tight end. Yeah – tight end.
Does anybody on here believe Richt would have ever even tried Cam at QB? Or if Richt tried Cam at QB, would he have inserted some spread offense (like Auburn did) for him, which was perfect for him? Would Richt have won a BCS Title with Cam?
I say no. If Cam had played for UGA, he would have gotten 40 passes at tight end for 8 TDs in his career.
And no Heisman trophy.
And no #1 NFL Draft Pick . . .
Tide Roll
August 4th, 2012
11:49 am
OVERRATED, CLAP,CLAP, CLAP CLAP CLAP. OVERRATED, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP CLAP CLAP.
Joey
August 4th, 2012
11:58 am
UGA alum here,
Alas, you are correct. Thank goodness for Theus coming in this season. Richt and Co have always seemed to do very well with the “skill-position” recruits, and really good D players.
Look, Richt has a “system” and he believes in it, and that’s that. He makes $3 Million a year for that “system,” has a new 5 year contract, so why doubt your “system?”
Even if you haven’t beaten any good team in years, even with a squad full of future NFL players . . .
UGA. Where one 10-win season = 5 more years, and $15 million+.
The best job in the UNIVERSE!
hornblower
August 4th, 2012
12:06 pm
we want Hutson Mason. period.
dawgfan13
August 4th, 2012
12:12 pm
Because Ricth is so infatuated with Murray, Mason and Lemay wont get a chance. I actually thing Mason is a better QB in terms of size, arm strength, and accuarcy. He also get the ball off very quickly. If you cant win a bowl game in three years as a starting QB at Georgia, then your time is up! After this season, Murray is done! Let Mason get the time he needs to prove he can get the job done. Lemay, may be the odd man out and its a shame because I think he is better than Murray as well. When the kid comes in from Camden County and red shirts so that Mason can get his starting year in, he will be the starting as a red shirt freshmen. That kid is good! Lemay will be the odd man out just as Shockly was for Green, but at least Green won big games. You saw what Shockly could do when he got the chance. Lemay should tranasfer now! The writing is on the wall. Sadly enough, he will never get a fair chance at Georgia. I am just sick of watching Murray! He is a good college qb, but not one that is great and can make big throws and handle pressure and lead a team. We will never know if Lemay or Mason can especially if Murray comes back for his senior season and loyal Ricth starts him again after the three or four loses Georgia will have this year, it’s time to move on to Mason and Lemay. Murray is what he is. He has reached his ceiling.
Pitbull
August 4th, 2012
12:12 pm
Go Dogs. Lets get that Offensive Line ready and really be offensive to other teams this year.
Most importantly, lets kick some Yellow Jacket tail at the end of the year and make it hurt.
hornblower
August 4th, 2012
12:14 pm
anyone who doesn’t see Hutson Mason’s superiority to Murray is blind, dumb, or just plain overlooking the facts and stupid. i have never thought that even welcoming and injury to a Richt preferred darling in order to see the vastly superior player lead the dogs might look inviting, but that feeling is nudging its way into my heart.
Whiznot
August 4th, 2012
12:26 pm
kellen Moore wasn’t drafted. No way in hell Murray gets drafted!
Whiznot
August 4th, 2012
12:30 pm
Check out the length of Murray’s stride in that pic. He looks like he’s trying to do a split. Five feet eleven just got morphed into 5 feet four.
Big Dawg Dee
August 4th, 2012
12:37 pm
I hope he worked on throwing less interceptions and how to hit the number two or three receiving options. Murray gets credit as if he plays like Tom Brady but he’s more like a Philip Rivers or Jay Cutler.
Big Dawg Dee
August 4th, 2012
12:39 pm
Id take Stafford over Murray any day.
BG
August 4th, 2012
12:39 pm
GATA Murray!
dawgster
August 4th, 2012
12:40 pm
@BandWagon…Last time I played and coached….it takes 11 guys on each side of the ball..in otherwords to explain it to you in terms you may can understand: This is a team sport..As “Atticus” very well stated above…in the LSU game Murray had no control over the drop passes that would or could have put us up 21-0….but its his fault…you are right just like all your other bandwagon supporters that don’t know a damm thing about football…oh but you can quote specifics out your other side….Does Murray need to improve on some fundamentals..well i’m sure all players can improve their game in some manner…maybe, just maybe, that Murray realizes some areas that need improvement, as do the coaches, so perhaps that is why he was participating at the camps…
Its typical, but the 2nd string QB, is usually the most popular guy on the team from the fans position…As a former coach and player, I can tell you that after multitudes of practices, work attitude, game study, experience, etc….you know who your number one guy is…and who gives you the best chance up to that point to win games for you….and with that I will go back to my first point….That this is a TEAM sport….its real easy to lay the blame on the QB, so for some of you Murray is the target….with that being said, that doesn’t mean that he has not made mistakes, everyone does…you just keep working and try to minimize the mistakes that can put your team in position to win…And to answer your question regarding why did Murrary complete only 39% vs 50% from others against LSU…Maybe there recievers held on to the ball….You know if you do that the QB gets credit for a completion, and surely that will help their %….go dawgs
Big Dawg Dee
August 4th, 2012
12:42 pm
Richt should have a qb competition between Murray,Mason,Lemay and let the one that plays better start. Automatically giving that position to Murray is unfair to Mason & K
Lemay.
Big Dawg Dee
August 4th, 2012
12:45 pm
And Rivers & Cutler are notorius for interceptions like Murray.
hmmmmm............
August 4th, 2012
12:56 pm
All of this Mason talk is a waste of time unless Murray gets hurt. Mason redshirted this season to give himself a chance to start in the future. Murray made some huge mistakes last year hopefully he has learned from them. Stafford also made some big mistakes too and also relied too much on his arm
Pitbull
August 4th, 2012
12:58 pm
A note to all of you Yellow Jackets out there:
I am now president of the Athens chapter of the Paul Johnson Fan Club.
You would not believe how the club is growing. We had to move the meetings from the IHOP to the Western Sizzlin because of the crowds.
We love Paul Johson in Athens. Don’t you guys ever fire him.
Ignor the fact that he cannot recruit at the 1A level. I mean face it, ever since Chan Gaileys players left, the only decent guys you have had are the ones that transferred in because they wanted to be closer to home – or were run off by their origional schools.
Yep, Paul Johnson will soon have Tech as the strongest 1AA team in America. You might even venture to schedule Georgia Southern without the fear of being beat.
We sort of look at Paul Johnson as the coaching equivalent of Reggie Ball at Tech. And you know how much we revere Reggie.
Reggie!!! Reggie!! Reggie!!
So you guys take good care of Paul Johnson because we want him in Atlanta for a loooong time.
Sincerely, your fellow Paul Johnson fans in Athens.
PS Has his 2012 recruiting class hit double digits yet?
hmmmmm............
August 4th, 2012
12:59 pm
If Tee Martin can win it all so can Murray.
I’d still like to see Richt go back to running the O
dawgster
August 4th, 2012
1:02 pm
@Big Dawg Dee…Are you serious?…Do you really think these coaches don’t see these guys compete in the spring and fall..?…Why would any coach who is expected to win games at a Div1 level or any for that matter, not have the guy who gives them the best chance to win…Now everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, but overall, who gives the team the best chance…On a personal note, I can only add that a certain young man, that just may happen to be somewhat kin to my family, has in no uncertain terms told us that Murray is without a doubt the “guy”…now take that for whatever it is worth…doesn’t mean he is not prone to mistakes, but he is the leader of that team….and just to follow-up…Mason is very good and could step in if needed, but at this point, Murray is ahead of him in many ways….Some of you need to think before you just spout off anything that you have no knowledge of on here….Agian, it takes 11 guys playing as a team and executing thier assignments to be successful on every play, and even then you have a DC on the other side with 11 guys who are tasked with stopping that play…But hey lets lay it all on Murray’s shoulders….Go with the backup QB and all will be fine…
hmmmmm............
August 4th, 2012
1:02 pm
Joey: Cam Newton wouldn’t have caught a pass here he would have been kicked off the team for theft. Gone D2.
One thing Murray has over Cox and JoeT3 is an arm. Neither of them could throw down field
Big Dawg Dee
August 4th, 2012
1:05 pm
Joe T started over Stafford. So there ya go…
Big Dawg Dee
August 4th, 2012
1:09 pm
Why would Cam Newton catch any pass? He’s a qb that throws passes…
hmmmmm............
August 4th, 2012
1:18 pm
Big Dawg maybe you should read before you type. Richt wanted him to play tight end
dawgster
August 4th, 2012
1:22 pm
@Big Dawg Dee…again you show your ingorance…..Joe T knew the system and Stafford was a freshman…Normally you don’t throw a freshman QB into the SEC dauntlet….and I believe that when Stafford was ready, he became the guy….
Joey
August 4th, 2012
1:30 pm
Yeah, hmmmmm……….
Joe Cox only threw for about 400 yds and 5 TDs vs Arkansas in ‘09. That was Arkansas, not New Mexico St. by the way.
UGA had a good enough offense with Cox, but had Richt’s roommate at DC, who couldn’t stop anybody . . .
But I don’t blame Willie Martinez, I blame Richt for putting him at DC, and keeping him there through the Stafford/Knowshon years, ruining UGA’s chances at greatness.
BandWagon
August 4th, 2012
2:05 pm
Joe Cox and Murray are similar in:
1) Height
2) Interception Prone
3) 8 win per season average
4) Highly touted out of high school
5) Accuracy
Only difference is Cox beat some top 20 teams, Murray can’t.
dawgs01
August 4th, 2012
8:11 pm
if mason was better he would play. yall crack me up. you are comparing practice stats which if you ever been to college practices alot of it is situational plays with starters and depth players in there so you really cant compare those to game stats and you cant compare stats against new mexico state to murrays either. The grass is always greener to some of you.
dawgs01
August 4th, 2012
8:16 pm
cox was a senior and murray was a freshmen and sophomore so that kills your arguement. do you remember how bad rambo was his first two yrs. he took bad angles on every freaking play and missed tackles which safeties cant due at all due to the fact they are the safety and he blew coverages all game long. last yr his third yr in the system and his third yr in the wt room and in the play book he put together an all american season. very few freshmen and sophomores look good in the sec or in college football in general even in the naia. i am sure you put up off the chart stats and won alot of pressure cookers when you played college football but murray just is not as good as you are at this stage in his career but i say wait till this yr before you pass to judgement on him for now remember he has some decent numbers for a freshmen yr and a sophomore yr.
Old Dog Class of 80
August 5th, 2012
12:14 pm
If this is true and Murray really learned a lot (like how to quicken up his throw, how to throw it to the sidelines when pressured, and how to take a sack when necessary), than I will be jubilant to see him play this year.
But if he starts making the bad plays and Richt LEAVES HIM IN THE GAME, I am going to keep on insisting that Richt be fired.
Old Dog Class of 80
August 5th, 2012
12:19 pm
“Coaching two Heisman trophy winners, a #1 overall draft pick, and one of the winningest QBs in the history of college football ”
And not winning a championship with any of them.