Murray bypasses NFL draft to stay at UGA (updated w/ Richt reaction)

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray ended the speculation Sunday night about whether he’s staying in school or going to the NFL. He’s staying, Murray announced via Twitter.

“Blessed to be the QB for the Dawgs, not ready to leave just yet,” Murray tweeted to his 64,000-plus followers. “Time to get back to work & help lead this team to a championship.”

Murray could not be immediately reached for further comment, and UGA made no official announcement of his decision. (UPDATE: Georgia coach Mark Richt reacted to Murray’s decision in a statement Monday morning: “I’m certainly pleased that after weighing his options Aaron has decided to remain at Georgia for his senior year. His leadership and productivity have been tremendous during what has been an outstanding career. This is great for Aaron and great for Georgia.”)

A three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Murray had been weighing whether to return for his final season of college eligibility or to enter the 2013 NFL draft.

He said previously that the NFL’s underclassmen advisory committee informed him he likely would be a second or third-round pick if he entered the draft.

Murray graduated from UGA last spring with a degree in psychology, and he enrolled in a graduate program in industrial-organizational psychology in the fall.

He is the first quarterback in SEC history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. This past season, he passed for 3,893 yards and 36 touchdowns. In Georgia’s Capital One Bowl victory over Nebraska, he passed for 427 yards and five touchdowns. He leads the nation in pass efficiency rating for the 2012 season, just ahead of Alabama’s AJ McCarron, who plays in the BCS title game Monday night.

Murray has led Georgia to back-to-back SEC Eastern Division titles, although the Bulldogs lost in the SEC Championship game both times.

Murray’s return is a boon for the 2013 Georgia team, which expects to return all but two starters – receivers Tavarres King and Marlon Brown – from an offense that averaged 37.8 points per game.

– Tim Tucker, AJC

513 comments Add your comment

1776

January 8th, 2013
10:55 am

No doubt that Aaron made the wise decision. I don’t see him having been drafted in the 2nd round…more like 3rd or 4th (due to his height). If he stays healthy, he should break alotta records next year. The offense should be stout (Bennett & McGowan can easily fill the WR “losses”). However, it’s the defense that will be suspect.

sorry coach

January 8th, 2013
12:00 pm

No the trolls aren’t techies, but a bunch of people who know football and understand Uga will never be more than what they are with amurray. He’s not a big time quaterback, which is why u can play for a school that consistently puts top players in the league, yet as a ten year junior, with all these so called accolades, is still a third round pick..I wish he would have left. Jesus Christ get off the team already and let the real QB, Hutson Mason on the field!

Kdawg

January 8th, 2013
12:15 pm

Aaron,
You need to think this over. The defense is depleted, you face a schedule where you will be 9-3 at best, Florida is back and South Carolina has your number. Plus, there are not many QB’s in this years NFL draft class. Please do not stay thinking you will win a NC. most likely Urban Meyer, Nick Saban or Johnny Football will get the NC. We appreciate everything you have done but you and Coach Richt have proven you are just not capable of winning the big games. The NC is so far out of reach you have a better shot at winning the Super Bowl.

Big Bad Bama

January 8th, 2013
1:04 pm

Who cares if he’s coming back? It aint gonna help win a championship. Cause if we meet them again we’re just gonna plow right through that dawg defense all over again.

Give it up dawg fans. You’re never going to win a national title. You’re simply not a championship caliber program.

Big Bad Bama

January 8th, 2013
1:06 pm

AJ wins championships. Aaron not so much.

Tide/Dawg

January 8th, 2013
2:00 pm

McCarron no more won the game for Bama than Golson lost the game for ND. McCarron executed the game plan. The O-Line executed their assignments and the receivers were phenomenal in getting open, and the defense shut ND down. McCarron is an excellent Q-Back and I wouldn’t trade him for any other college Q-Back, but it takes a TEAM like the Tide to win a championship.

The support that Ala. gets, the coaching they get, the attention to detail Saban insists on, and the recruits they get, that’s a championship formula. I want that for the Dawgs, I want them to be the Ala. of the East Division. I want them to play Ala. every year in the SEC CG. That way I won’t care which one wins it as long as it is one of them. Ala. recruits championship calibre players and then coaches them into what they are. At Ala. you either listen and learn and then execute or you don’t play. You do it Saban’s way.

At Ga. Richt is never going to be a Saban type coach. That’s not his style. Ga. does need to recruit players that fit Richts style coaching. I think that is why you see a lot of 5 star recruits come to Ga. and are never heard of again. Some of them just don’t fit his style of coaching. Some of these recruits need a stern disciplinarian and have to be taught discipline. “Go sit in the corner” doesn’t get it with these recruits that are between childhood and manhood. Crowell is a perfect example. What would he have been at Ala.? Murray, Gurley, Marshall, they seem to fit the Richt mold. They will help put Ga. back in the SEC CG. If a recruit comes in with a bad, troubled attitude….”Get rid of Him”!! Let some other coach deal with him. I don’t care how good he was in high school. Bad attitudes, no discipline, lazy, a trouble maker….they are like putting poison in the drinking water. They will spoil the entire team. If you recruit one like that, you are not going to change him in the short time that he’s with you. Cut him loose, let him go spoil someone else’s team.

Does Alabama’s shellacking of ND make any of you negative Dawg bloggers feel differently about Murray and the Dawgs game against Bama???

Tide/Dawg

January 8th, 2013
2:15 pm

Congratulations to the Notre Dame team and coaches. You won 12 games and got to the National CG. Only two teams made it and you were one of them. I know you are disappointed and we could all see the shock in the players eyes early in the first half. You fought hard but were outmanned. In 2013 you now know what it takes to win a National Championship. I’ve never liked ND, but this team showed some class, and that’s a tribute to their coach.

Tide/Dawg

January 8th, 2013
2:34 pm

“Johnny Football”….I prefer “Johnny Fast feet”. He’s got them. Remember this: For every force there’s a counter force. He won’t be a surprise next year. The defenses will be geared to stop him. Maybe he’s a good pocket passer, I don’t know, he better be, but most of the damage he does is with his feet and passing on the run. Plus! He’s got the Heisman baggage to deal with every week. Everybody will be gunning for him the same way they will be gunning for the Nat’l Champion. That’s why it’s tough to repeat. Every game, no matter who you play, every team is going to give you the best they’ve got every week. Nobody is going to go through the SEC undefeated. Let down for one game and you lose. That happened to Ala. against A&M 2012. A&M had lost 2 games and Ala. was playing at home. They let down and before they could recover the game was over.

Chochtaw

January 9th, 2013
12:19 am

He would have to take a pay cut if he went pro

Dog in Nam

January 9th, 2013
11:38 am

@the tide is rolling and nothing can stopit…..congratulations on hiring the best coach ever in college ball…he will probably stay at Ala lo9ng enough to eclipse the man he already has demonstrated superiority over….More and more smart people are coming to realize the obvious about Coach Saban….he’s one smart, tough, articulate operator and is better than any coach ever has been and probablyu ever will be…..I get that , as do many intelligent Dog fans and other non Alabama fans…….Coach Saban will have the choice between eclipsing Bryant while at Alabama, purely winnng the most nattys of any Ala coach….then the more interesting eclipse…the super Bryant level and term Saban wishes to take that…..it coulkd easily be at a UGA, U F or other top SEC school….at that point, it won’t matter….Coach Saban has been very respectful toward Georgia over the years…and there he sits in an interview after the game with Fowler, Herbstriet and Pollack commenting, not for the first time, regarding hyow good UGA is this year and how close they came to being in Miami at thatb poat game op of the Victor…Coach Saban knows that UGA would have also blown out ND….and he acknowledged that….but you still have that damn MUSBERGER TRYING TO PUSH PRESEASON STANDINGS FOR SEBVERAL MIDE WEST TERAMS, oREGON, usc AND SOME OTHERS WITH NO MENTUON OF sOUTH cAROLIUNSA, gEORGIA, fLORIDA, lsu…he pushed A and M because of Johnny Football and because he can pull for A and M as eveidence that SEC is not that bgvreat..>>>>sberger isn senile….Saban is one of the most intelligent men in Amereica….Why, sir, are you so stupid as to not realize how damn strong UGA is right now….Ity’sk kid…they are no threat to the tide being great, but can and will be gfreat right along with the tide……You are afraid of UGA….; Saban likes UGA and would love to coach there once he eclipses the Bear while at Ala or maybe before….he didn’t like the job at bLSU….he loves living in Tuscaloosa, and he would love living in Athens…that wouyld really upset you and people like you that think it is Alabama and not CFoach Saban….it is Coach Saban, and he would be just as successful at several of the Southeastern scools….don’t kid yourself…..well you….you aren’t able to not kid yourself…..may no good come to you you jerk, but congratulations to the vast majority of great folks at Alabama who are supporting the Saban Dynasty at Alabama is a very cool and respectful manner….to all you neanderthals who dare disrespect great institutions like the Univ.of Georgia, you can all go staraight to hell.. Roll Tide and continued success to that vast majority of Tide fans who also repect UGA

Lobosolo

January 9th, 2013
1:54 pm

One can certainly surmise a couple of things by reading these blogs…

1. Half of you are the worst kind of “fans”… I would bet a comparison of you whiney losers and Mr. Murray, in the realm of what has been accomplished by either, will show hands down a huge discrepancy in favor of Mr. Murray… I bet not a ONE of you can come close… I also bet that 99.9% of you have NEVER played organized football, especially at the level Georgia plays… You’re exposing yourself as crybaby punks…

2. Even amongst the college grads on here, the majority don’t know the difference between your and you’re… Only thing worse than a sissyfied whiner is a sissyfied whiner with bad grammar…

Put it to rest, a-wipes. unless you’ve ever led a team on the field…

ahsoisee

January 9th, 2013
9:42 pm

This will probably cause trouble within the ranks at UGA. The next quarterback in-waiting has been seen by some as being better than Murray. My guess is that he will make an announcement in the next few weeks or month that he is transferring to another school. This will also affect the morale of many of the UGA football players who also thinks the sub is the better quarterback. The fur will fly!

Buzz 2011

January 10th, 2013
8:38 pm

Murray bypassed NFL because ” no NFL” team would want the kid!
I noted that Bama’s quarterback, AJ McCarron has only thrown 3
picks all year..Murray throws three picks per game…………He chokes
in big games and always 5 yard behind…. 5 yards at least……