Ryan Montgomery’s first year in Athens is officially in the books, and by all accounts, it went exactly the way he hoped it would. The freshman quarterback may have redshirted, but his development arc is right on schedule - and more importantly, he’s exactly where he wants to be.
“I came here to be developed,” Montgomery said during Georgia’s Sugar Bowl appearance. “That’s why I came to Georgia.
It’s such a prestigious program. The culture here is just different.
I love being here in the facility. There’s really nowhere else I’d rather be.”
That mindset is what’s made Montgomery such a natural fit in Georgia’s quarterback room. He didn’t come to Athens expecting to start right away.
He came to grow, to compete, and to learn from some of the best minds in college football. And in year one, he did just that - even if it was mostly from the sidelines.
Montgomery served as Georgia’s No. 3 quarterback this season, sitting behind Gunner Stockton and fellow freshman Ryan Puglisi. His game action was limited to a single appearance against Charlotte, where he completed his only pass attempt for 12 yards. But make no mistake - behind the scenes, he was hard at work.
“I love the guys in the room. My teammates.
I’d do anything for them,” Montgomery said. “It has just been an awesome opportunity.
I’ve just been excited to learn, continue and grow.”
Montgomery came out of high school ranked as the No. 12 quarterback in the country, and while many top prospects chase immediate playing time or lucrative NIL deals, his approach was different. He was the one who reached out to Georgia. He wanted to be a Bulldog.
His high school coach, Stefan Adams, put it best: “I love the story of how he basically recruited Georgia. It is a sign of strong faith, trusting your gut and letting things unfold the right way.”
And that’s what Montgomery has done - trusted the process. He knew Georgia’s quarterback track record.
He saw the path that players like Carson Beck and Gunner Stockton took - both of whom waited multiple seasons before getting their shot. He embraced that.
“This is a place where I wanted to be,” Montgomery said. “I just wanted to come here.
Practice against the best. Develop.
It is going to take time. I’ve seen steady improvements in my game since I’ve been here.”
He’s not bluffing. Montgomery committed to Georgia with a clear understanding of the long-term vision.
When he said he’d be in Athens “for the next three to five years,” he meant it. Georgia’s quarterback room isn’t built on instant gratification - it’s built on patience, development, and internal competition.
Just look at the recent history. Stockton arrived in 2022 and didn’t start until 2025.
Beck came in back in 2020 and had to wait until 2023. Even Stetson Bennett, the ultimate underdog story, didn’t lock down the starting job until 2021 - four years after first arriving in Athens.
Meanwhile, not every five-star talent has stuck around. Brock Vandagriff never started a game for Georgia.
JT Daniels, another former five-star, lost the job to Bennett. Dylan Raiola flipped late in the process.
Jared Curtis, another highly touted recruit, flipped to Vanderbilt.
But through all that, Georgia just kept winning - more games and more national titles than anyone else this decade. The formula is working, and Montgomery is fully bought in.
“You look at the past couple quarterbacks,” he said. “It takes time for them to get on the field and I understood that when I committed here. I came here to be developed and I have no plans on leaving or anything like that.”
“I want to be here. I mean I just want to continue to grow and learn and obviously having the coaching staff that we have here, why would I leave? There’s nowhere else for me to go.”
Montgomery’s trust in the process is reinforced by the relationships he’s built - with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, offensive analyst Brandon Streeter, head coach Kirby Smart, and the other quarterbacks in the room. It’s a competitive group, sure, but it’s also a tight-knit one.
“The guys in the quarterback room, I mean, we’re all really close. I know we’re competing but we’re all great friends and really close and we love to see each other succeed.”
Montgomery’s road to Athens wasn’t without its challenges. An August 2024 knee injury limited him to just one series during his senior season in high school. But since arriving at Georgia, he’s steadily impressed the coaching staff with his work in practice and his commitment to the grind.
And that commitment started long before he ever put on the red and black. Georgia had been evaluating several quarterbacks in the 2025 class, including Julian Lewis and Matt Zollars, before Montgomery made it clear he wanted in.
He told the staff outright: if Georgia wasn’t ready to take him, he’d move on to Florida or South Carolina. But Georgia listened - and they liked what they heard.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo recalled the moment Montgomery made his pitch in person.
“He came to a spring practice with his Dad and a family friend and basically said, ‘I want to be here and around everything this program is about. I want to be pushed.
I want every day to demand that I’m at my best,’” Bobo said. “And I didn’t say ‘Okay, we are taking you’ at that point, but that stuck with me about this kid that basically wanted this life.”
“It is hard. It is hard every day, but he wanted this life - to come be a Georgia quarterback. He had it set in his mind that ‘I can get to where I want to go’ by coming to the University of Georgia and that right there impressed all of us.”
Georgia did end up signing another quarterback in the 2026 cycle - Bryson Beaver. Beaver originally committed to Oregon but entered the portal after Dante Moore returned and Raiola transferred in. That move doesn’t reflect negatively on Montgomery - Georgia had always planned to add a quarterback in this class, and Beaver fit the bill.
What Georgia continues to value is quarterbacks who want to be there - guys who don’t need to be constantly re-recruited. That’s what Montgomery, Puglisi, and Stockton all have in common. They’ve planted their roots in Athens, and history suggests that’s a winning formula.
For Montgomery, year one was about learning, healing, and laying the foundation. Year two?
That’s when things start to get interesting. But one thing’s clear - he’s in it for the long haul.