Aaron Murray, Former Georgia Bulldogs Quarterback

What's the strangest thing you're afraid of? Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast Your Weirdest Fears, where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of. Everything from animal people hybrids, you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal, to giant statues.

If I ever saw one of those giant statues, I probably would poop my pants. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your data. Podcast from Aaron. I would ask you how you're doing, but you're a Georgia alum your Georgia royalty So I think I know the answer to that Yeah, why life is good when you're back-to-back national champs. So I know just just enjoying it man It's it's been it's it's crazy to wait 40 years to win one and all of a sudden bang bang you get two in a row Undefeated perfect season we know how hard that is to accomplish and man I'm telling you right now if you look at that team this team heading into next year to next year's team Could end up being the best of all three. They're young on defense. They were young on offense They have a lot of skill guys back top receivers top tight end got two receivers in the portal I think Carson bank the next quarterback in line that I think it's gonna be given the job or at least without the job in spring and summer I think the stud and really it's kind of when did his turn to be QB one? So yeah, life is good right now If you're George a bulldog It's really incredible Obviously the last two years speak for themselves, but we used to do this all the time with Alabama. They would win I don't care what they do in the regular season until someone beats them in the playoff. I would not be picking against them That's now Georgia where I can't pick against them until someone takes them down in the playoff for the foreseeable future yeah, and And also to just them getting in there I think even if there may be like one stumble along the route say next year I think they've built enough credibility with how well they've played in the playoffs were like they're They're gonna find a way to get in and if you look at their schedule next year There's nothing really that honestly scares me.

It's kind of hilarious You look at their schedule in their first four games at home the Don conference schedules a bunch of cupcakes They know they did have the game first, Oklahoma That was you know supposed to happen but with the restructuring the conferences They decided not to play that game next year. I believe would have been in Norman so Yeah, it's a team that that we've seen go back to kind of your original point It's a team that we've seen this year in big-time moments Find ways to win usually big I mean from from you know the Oregon game the first game of the season You know went to South Carolina, which is a tough place to play and absolutely destroyed them You know Tennessee never want in the country You know essentially you know could have run away with that one kind of you know took the pressure off in the second half You know won that game easily. You know destroyed LSU you know the Ohio State game was a good matchup I thought was a great game, and you know kind of the one team that kind of scared me this year Just based on the spouse that you know that's the type of offense that gives Georgia at least the past two years Gives Georgia the most issues, but yeah big-time games, man They still can they play the big wake and and and especially Stetson you know MVP Of all four playoff games including obviously those two national championships is I mean just absolutely special How do you put it into words what he means to the program? Because no one could have wrote this script and authored this script of what Stetson pennant was going to do at Georgia Yeah, I mean for me You know he kind of Elevated himself in my book to to greatest Georgia quarterback of all time And listen, I'm not you know. I didn't grow up in Georgia I didn't grow up watching Georgia football in the 90s and early 2000 you know my kids from Florida You know my first Georgia game was Georgia versus Hawaii and what 2007 that Sugar Bowl, but you know being in Athens and playing for five years you learn the history you watch the tape you see you you learn the names of the greats And you kind of see those highlights, and you talk to enough people you kind of realize like who meant the most to you Of the University of Georgia, but you know to see what he's done in two years to play the way he's played I thought he's played tremendously well Especially in big-time moments to to lead this team to an SEC championship to national championships So once again be the MVP of those four games the big you know for the biggest games in Georgia's history You know he was the number one quarterback in Georgia history after last year's national championship you know to me right now He's the number one player in Georgia history. Just in general, and I know a lot of people want to say Oh, what about you know Herschel?

Are you an idiot? What the hell you talking about, but and I love Herschel You know no Herschel respect Herschel Herschel is one of the greatest players of all time I'm not I'm not it isn't where everyone gets to me confused because I'm not Projecting him as like oh, he's an incredible NFL talent like that's not it I'm you know how I view a player in college is this is this is how how did you? Make the most of your four or five years What did you do to better your university to win championships to set them up for success and obviously yes? Herschel won a natty Herschel won a Heisman but sets it has to and he's done at the most important position at the quarterback spot And he's played the the best of anyone in those big-time moments So to me you put all that together You know he has been the best player as a collegiate player at the University of Georgia And I'm just so excited to continue to see you know kind of what he can do that next level I think he's gonna get a shot man I really do I think he's gonna get a shot to to make a roster and kind of fight You know fight from from there on out It's crazy when you look back at the last two years because I wonder how much people were really able to appreciate Aaron Murray Stetson Bennett because before that semi-final game against Michigan there was talks if he gets off to a bad start Maybe they'll pull him then this year when he's a Heisman Trophy Finalist everyone is saying Hendon hooker should be there over him last night It was fitting in a 65 to 7 game He was basically able to just give all the doubters the middle finger pretty much One last time because you just can't take anything away from this kid anymore And it seems like people just tried to bench him so many times in the last two years Yeah, I mean they continue to find ways I mean that you can talk to the coaching staff and they try to bury him on the depth chart Yeah, and he wasn't even supposed to be the starter before that that was a UAB game you know two years ago, or you know last season and You know Carson was I think you know supposed to be the starter You know just wasn't ready and the coaches minds and if Stetson went out there and threw five touchdowns And they were hoping that okay, you know give Carson another week didn't we can do probably the next game? And then if that's those five touchdowns like okay well You know we got to kind of roll with him right now until he kind of screws up And you know kind of just obviously ran away with in the rest of its history, so Yeah, I mean from even last year to like you know once he won the natty it was hilarious his fans like okay Thank you now.

We've like you know we appreciate you We appreciate you helping us win a natty appreciate you being MVP of you know the Orange Bowl And then in the national championship, but you know take your take your ball go home. You know go yeah You know a tax guy or a lawyer or whatever you want to do in the state of Georgia We'll take care of you, but just leave the football team and says it's like what no sorry like that This is my decision, and this is my dream, and if I have one more year to play college football I'm gonna play college football So you know it's just amazing to see that he kind of decides to write his own story He wasn't gonna let anyone else write it for him, and and it turns out that it's a pretty darn good story It's one that you know people will talk about for for ages What do you think he'll be I know you touched on a little bit, but as a pro What do you think he could be in the NFL? Well, I mean listen look at the amount of guys that have played this year in the NFL I mean there's like been what 60-plus quarterbacks that I started a game, and I would say you know I think he projects better than ten of them. You know I was going over a list with my boy Cole Cube Like in our radio show earlier this afternoon, and we're like man There's ten guys that have made starts in the NFL this year that Stetson is a better quarterback than or at least was a better quarterback coming out of college football So I think you know I think the issue was once again the narrative was random I said so that he's a walk-on so he must have Below average arm strength and not be athletic and not good enough, and and that's far from the truth I mean the man has you know plenty of arm strength I would say well above average arm strength can make every throw out there Will stand in there and face adversity in the pocket is extremely mobile enough at the pocket running the football It's accurate takes care of the football. He does everything you want and he's a great leader, so Yeah, to me. I think he's a guy that get drafted somewhere that fourth to sixth round You know maybe someone loves him enough to possibly take him before that but now I think he's gonna make a roster And and I think he's smart enough and work hard enough to you know to push himself to be a number two number three guy You know this first couple years wrap it up with Aaron Murray, Georgia back-to-back national championships after their 65 to 7 drubbing I guess you could say of TCU so Kirby smart Nick Saban the two best coaches in college football in your opinion Who's the third best coach in college football?

Oh? Oh Brian Kelly, and I think I think Brian Kelly's a stud I thought LSU got a really good one you know be able to get him away from Notre Dame And you saw what he did in just year one there at LSU, and then here the West wasn't as good as As it's been in years past But still man to you know to win the games that he won to be able to win that league To make it to the SEC change of game. You know put a throttling on Purdue there and And Whatever it was They had an impressive year, and you know they got Jaden back next year You know you know they got talent on both sides of the football Harold Perkins is a stud on defense So they got two young tackles freshly tackles that played well this year running backs are back, so I'm excited for him, man I respected everything he did at Notre Dame The consistency in which they played there when you kind of knew that They didn't have maybe the best talent in the world because of some of the limitations they had when it came to recruiting guys So the fact that he's out of the place that you know is gonna have talent I guess for the fact that he was able to achieve what he achieved in year one You know should scare a lot of people out there in the country Wrap it up with Aaron Murray. I just saw a few moments ago Spencer Rattler announced that he's coming back to South Carolina I like what Shane Beamer is doing there And you saw Rattler really come alive the last few weeks of the season with how they ended their year Yeah, and then you know he's gonna learn a new playbook now within with a new offensive coordinator But you know I thought he matured a lot in the system last year and listen a lot of expectations you come in there You know a team that was was good the year before you know average. You know young coach and you're cutting and the team that had what four quarterbacks a Receiver play quarterback in the bowl game a grad assistant have to you know stop coaching essentially to be a quarterback at one point You know it was is very dysfunctional so you get Spencer rattler and everything oh my gosh We got a guy that was you know projected Heisman guy the year before a potential top ten pick And and I just think he put a lot of pressure on himself early You know the scheme was different than when he ran there at Oklahoma So it took some adjustment, but you know the running game really helped him out You know unfortunate that their top running back is going to the other USC out there on the west coast But either he's a heck of a talent Was obviously huge in those games versus Tennessee and Clemson and those victories that played well in the bowl game You know defense kind of just couldn't get it done at the end But that's a big victory for South Carolina Shane Beamer continues to know get South Carolina moving in the right direction Aaron Murray, do you think Jim Harbaugh is gonna be back at Michigan? No, I don't Honestly, I don't I think it's just been unless he's just wavering to try to get a new big fat paycheck Which I'm good for you You deserve it after what you've done for the past two years, but I don't blame it man Coaching college football sucks. It really does. I'm not gonna lie like the hours these dudes put on the You know dealing with the transfer portal dealing with the NC double-a player on sense to yeah it's a double-a the high school recruiting the Everything man dealing with NIL and boosters and it's just you get no break man these dudes grind 24-7 365 and You know, it's interesting with into like the coaches conference of the day with with TCU and and and George and both coaches Kind of agree like man things need to change like we don't get any time with our family Like this isn't healthy like I want to see my kids I want to see my wife and I'm you know The day before Christmas or two days before Christmas having to worry about this this transfer portal NIL and an early signing day While getting ready for bowl games. It's like are you kidding me right now? Like, you know, it's just it's just too much and you look at the NFL game. Yes It's it's it's stressful too. But yeah, you got a GM You got scouts who deal with a lot of stuff you get more of a legitimate offseason You don't have to deal with all the the nonsense NIL You know the Trenton deal with the transfer portal if a kid doesn't want to play if a dude doesn't want to show up And grind cut them move on trade them. Whatever you have more control.

So It's just to me. It's it's such a better route and a better quality of life They're here if Elvin is dealing with all the craziness that it is with with college coaching any obviously had success in the NFL, too So he's proven that he could you can coach at a high level there on the way out with Aaron Murray So for TCU, I know it's easy for everyone to say last night They didn't belong because they lost 65 to 7 in the game, but they beat Michigan So, how do you kind of respond to people saying Oh TCU shouldn't have made the college football playoff Well, they should have made it. I mean they won the games. They're supposed to win, you know was was made Alabama better football team Yeah, I don't think was probably football better football team and but they didn't have the resume this year, you know Yeah, they didn't win the football games.

You stuck in the day, you know It is what it is until this thing turned into a tall team power off You need to win the games that you're supposed to win in order to get in and you did that They had a great season. They had some incredible comeback victory some gutsy performances and And and obviously beating Michigan like yeah, they deserve to be in the playoffs. They deserve to be the national championship Listen, no one would have been Georgia last night, you know, Georgia would have beaten if Georgia played the way they played last night They would have beat Michigan by 20 plus points. They would have probably beat, you know, Ohio State and in Alabama by double digits You know, they played and they did not play a great game versus Ohio State That was kind of a wake-up call for them.

You know, like I said the way they played last night There was no one in the country that could have come close to them They're just they were that much better than everyone else. So, you know unfortunate for TCU They they you know face a Georgia team that you know got like I said woken up the week before Kirby was pissed off You know got to kind of tell those guys like hey guys you won But you played like crap and we better step it up and you saw a really pissed off Georgia football team You know last night's matchup and they took it out on TCU Last thing I'll ask Aaron Murray For next year and you talked about how next year's Georgia team could be even better than these last two teams that we've seen Win the national championship this year. They go undefeated just so dominant Who's the team in college football that you think could be the the biggest pain in the butt for Georgia next year? Is it still Alabama in your mind? I don't think it's Alabama to be honest I mean, I think Alabama lost so much this year and I know you know Nick is is recruited a high level from the past forever and there's telling that roster but man they got some some some Replacing to do especially the quarterback position like right now, you know, I'm not confident in what they have in that spot you know you lose you lost the best quarterback you've ever had you bought the best defensive player you've ever had and you had An okay season like that should concern Alabama fans that we had all these these you know NFL guys to top five picks made the number one and number two pick in the NFL draft and We lost two games and almost lost another two against average football teams and below average football teams at 6 a.m So, you know if that's your season this year and all of a sudden you you don't feel good about your quarterback You didn't get anyone the transfer portal you lose your running back. You lose your defensive end your best nickel Stacy's I Don't feel good about our Alabama I feel better about LSU honestly in the SEC heading into next season, but if I had to pick another team I'm out of love what Florida State did to finish the season off. You know, I love what they did in the transfer portal I think they're gonna be a really tough team in the ACC to kind of get through that one You know, the packed hole is gonna be interesting. They got some really good quarterbacks, Oregon You know with Bo Nix back obviously USC with with Kayla back and you know, Utah has cam rising back in Washington It's just loaded on offense with you know, Michael Pennix jr So, you know packed off somewhat interests me, but I don't know man Right now the only team that I can feel good about Saying that I have confidence and not just because I'm a Georgia fan But maybe there's a little bit is Georgia it to make the playoffs next year I think it is wide open for those over three spots with you makes it Aaron Murray always appreciate the time. Congratulations.

Once again, thank you Appreciate it. See y'all What's the strangest thing you're afraid of tails without fur on them such as rats or opossums? I'm Larry Mullins host of the podcast your weirdest fears where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of Everything from animal people hybrids, you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal to giant statues if I ever saw One of those giant statues. I probably would poop my pants listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your Podcasts from the listening you love is on the free Odyssey app your trusted local radio stations Coverage of your favorite teams live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue To catch up later. There's a lot to listen to so get started and download the free Odyssey app today What's the strangest thing you're afraid of tails without fur on them such as rats or opossums? I'm Larry Mullins host of the podcast your weirdest fears where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of Everything from animal people hybrids, you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal to giant statues If I ever saw one of those giant statues I probably would poop my pants listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from