The senior class of next year’s Georgia football team will have a lot of familiar faces.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt held a press conference on Friday with the 14 members of next year's senior class. Tight end Orson Charles is the only member of the class to leave early for the NFL Draft. FILE PHOTO

Georgia head coach Mark Richt held a press conference Friday afternoon to announce the entire senior class of the football team — minus tight end Orson Charles, who announced he would enter the NFL Draft earlier this week.

“Today, to me, is a really great day for Georgia,” Richt said. “Great day to celebrate.”

Present at the press conference were 14 of the team’s seniors as well as junior quarterback Aaron Murray.

Linebacker Jarvis Jones — who had already announced his intentions to remain at Georgia — missed the press conference to attend an event for the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

“Every man in this room came to Georgia with dreams and goals of winning championships,” defensive back Sanders Commings said. “With the leadership in this room, we realize that the opportunity of doing that next year is great.”

Linebacker Christian Robinson echoed that sentiment.

“We’re a family,” he said. “It’s mainly that we want to be together for this last time and give it a shot. We’ve been together for so long and we have a chance to do something great.”

Other players agreed that the senior class had turned into a family for them.

“I think this group of guys here has grown up a lot since we first got here,” linebacker Cornelius Washington said. “I was blessed with a great opportunity that we had options, and that just showed that we really want to do something big next year. We came here to win championships and that’s what we want to do.”

Backup quarterback Mason returning to Bulldogs

Also present at the conference was junior quarterback Hutson Mason, who announced his intention to stay with the football program.

With the same amount of eligibility remaining as Murray, many speculated Mason would leave Georgia to seek playing time elsewhere.

Mason settled on his intention to stay late Thursday night after a prolonged decision-making process.

“After the bowl game I just went home and had a week and a half,” Mason said. “I just was waiting until God spoke to me and prayed about it a lot and even asked my parents to give me some time alone to think. I met with Coach Richt on Monday and made my decision last night and called my parents up today and told them.”

Mason said he had a great deal of help in making his decision, especially from former standout signal-callers for the Bulldogs.

“I had a lot of great people, like DJ Shockley, David Greene, Buck Belue, helping me,” he said. “Honestly I don’t think I would’ve been able to make this decision without guys like that.”

Mason said the team offered him a redshirt next season, which would extend his eligibility one year past that of Murray.

Without the offer, Mason said he was 100 percent committed to transferring out of the program.

“That redshirt at least gives me one year, and the plan right now is to redshirt next year,” Mason said. “I’m so excited to be back here. My heart has been here the whole time. It’s just my mind has been in a different place and I had to get those two on the same path and figure out what’s best for me.”

Mason said he couldn’t be more confident in his decision.

“There’s no doubt,” Mason said. “I’m 100 percent sure that I’ll stay here and hopefully win a championship.”

Offseason workouts already underway

Some players took the time to speak about the beginning of offseason workouts and the long buildup to next season, something which they are already teeming with excitement about.

“We’re very excited about this offseason,” Murray said. “I definitely think this team took some major strides last season, but we still have a lot of work to do. We’re looking forward to it, we have a lot of great leadership right now and as long as we have that, we’ll be fine.”

The team began offseason workouts on Wednesday. They will be taking part in workouts four to five times a week.

“It’s excitement,” Robinson said. “I was disappointed with the loss [against Michigan State in the Outback Bowl], but we just said we played a tough opponent… It didn’t go where we wanted, but as we see this group of guys return, this is a big momentum swing for us.”

The players also expressed their excitement about the 2012 recruiting class, which is coming into shape before National Signing Day on Feb. 1.

“We’ve met a lot of the guys through their visits and stuff like that,” Robinson said. “When you see that, it just adds to the excitement, and you know that there’s people that are on board and they have something special to offer.”

Robinson said he has enjoyed working out with some of the early enrollees, including running back Keith Marshall.

“I picked up Keith my first day and he hasn’t stopped working since he’s got here,” Robinson said. “I’d say he’s lived up to his work ethic and what everyone has said about him just in the short time he’s been here.”