Of all the addition and attrition that we’ve seen involving Georgia’s football roster, Carson Beck’s decision to return for another year qualifies as the biggest news.

Kirby Smart doesn’t argue with that.

During a recent interview on radio station 92.9, Smart spoke in depth about what Beck’s announcement last month meant to him and the program moving forward.

“It’s a huge momentum builder. It gives a lot of confidence in the program seeing that things are headed in the right direction,” Smart said. “He has a lot of confidence in us as coaches and as a staff, to continue to lead and direct him in the right direction.”

Smart said Beck did not come to a conclusion lightly.

“It’s ultimately a business decision for him. He’s looking at it as an opportunity to grow and extend his NFL career by being at Georgia another year, therefore being more prepared for the NFL when he goes,” Smart said. “I thought he did a really good job researching things. He had a lot of help around him in terms of getting good information and not making an emotional decision.”

Beck could easily have gone and would have been in one of the first group of quarterbacks taken. His final numbers as a first-year starter were certainly notable.

The Jacksonville native set a school record by completing 72.42 percent of his passes (302 of 417) for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns with just six interceptions.

He’s already been projected as one of the top candidates for next year’s Heisman Trophy.

“He could have come out and it would have been the right decision for him. He could have stayed, and it had been the right decision. There was no true right or wrong for him,” Smart said. “He made the decision that fit him best, and his long-term goals are to play a long time in the NFL, but he wants to prepare a little more and win some games while he’s doing it. It’s certainly big for us because it had a major impact, not only on recruiting, but guys deciding to stay with him.”

Smart said he saw significant growth from Beck during the year.

For example:

“Just situationally, understanding when not to force the ball, to when you have to make plays with your feet. The decision for all quarterbacks is, ‘Do I run, or do I throw, do I take a sack, what’s the risk here?’” Smart said. “I think he's aware of al that. He had some huge conversions with his legs, and I think that’s frustrating for [defensive] coordinators, to get a kid who wins with his mind, protections, his throws, at an elite level.”

As the year moved along, Beck became more of a rushing threat. He finished with 117 yards and four touchdowns.

Look for more of that next fall.

“When you get all that figured out, and you beat a guy in the offensive line, and you’ve got a one-on-one chance to tackle him and he takes off, that demoralizes the defense. I think his growth in terms of making those decisions was impressive,” Smart said. “If you’re No. 1 in the nation on third down offense, you’ve got somebody who knows what he’s doing at quarterback. It just doesn’t happen. You look across the nation and across history at guys who have been good on third downs, they usually are high-quarterback-functioning people. That’s what he is.”