Murphy coming to campus with high expectations
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
Offensive linemen are just a different breed of players, and when offensive line coach Eric Wolford is on the recruiting trail it’s those types of players he’s on the look out for.
The way Wolford describes it, it’s probably a guy who works out more like Rocky and eats nails for breakfast and Gamecock signee Vincent Murphy fits the bill in Wolford’s eyes.
“He’s tough, blue collar. He loves the weight room, loves football. Football’s important to him, family’s important to him," Wolford said. "He obviously played a great program, loves to compete and competes at a high level. We talked to him about overtraining. Those are good traits to talk to guys to try and slow him down a little bit. I don’t want him to over train.”
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Murphy excelled as a center at St. Thomas Aquinas, a powerhouse program in Florida where he developed into a three-star prospect and the No. 5 center in the 2019 class.
He became a two-time captain at St. Thomas, following in the footsteps of a few highly-drafted players like Nick Bosa, who went No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Murphy chose the Gamecocks over Michigan State, Mississippi State, Texas and a few others with his recruitment going about as no-frills as it possibly could with Murphy’s straight-laced, hard-nosed demeanor.
“Murph’s no nonsense. He’ll run through a wall for you. That’s what you have to love about Murph. He’s a two-time captain at St. Thomas Aquinas,” Wolford said. ”The last guy that did that his last name was Bosa. It’s voted on, that’s something that’s not given. We have high expectations for Murph.”
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He hasn’t officially stepped on campus yet, that’ll come over the next few weeks, but the coaching staff already has high hopes for what the versatile offensive lineman can bring to them over the next three or four years.
Murphy plays center but the staff thinks he can bump out and be a plug-and-play guard as well.
He follows a long line of offensive line commitments the Gamecocks have brought in and taught to play multiple spots up front, which is a staple of a Wolford-coached line.
“I always make a decision: is this guy a strictly one-position player? And that’s not good. If you can only play center, that’s not good,” he said. “Reality is I want guys that can play tackle and hopefully guard and left guard. That’s what you always want. A lot of kids that play tackle in high school are going to have to be an inside player when they move inside, so it’s hard to find those tackle-type bodies. When you can find a guy that has power that can play tackle and guard, there’s a premium on that.”
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Wolford’s done a tremendous job since taking over the offensive line two seasons ago, pulling in a horde of quality talent and continuing to build steam on the recruiting trail.
The guys he’s brought in are versatile and can play multiple spots, and Murphy is no different. He’s been able to build quality depth, and this year’s group may be the deepest its been in Columbia in recent memory.
He’s done it with a strong recruiting prowess and recruiting a certain type of player, a style Murphy fits perfectly.
“If Twitter’s real important to you and those kind of things and recruiting is really, really important to you and you worry about stars and those kinds of things, I don’t know if you’re really an offensive linemen,” Wolford said. “That’s more for skill guys. We’re not wired like that. We know what’s important.”