“It was a great atmosphere, great fan base, as a matter of fact,” said Murphy, who’s ranked the No. 14 overall prospect and No. 2 strongside defensive end in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite for the 2020 class. “It was just a great experience, and my parents enjoyed it. “I enjoyed it, especially since there were a lot of people that I knew that were going there. It was really fun, besides the fact that Tennessee lost. But everything else was great.”
The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Murphy said he has heard plenty about Tennessee from McCollough, who has been committed to the Vols since August, and he likes what he has seen during both of his visits to Knoxville this year. “Me and Jaylen, we’ve been talking about it ever since, maybe, back in February,” Murphy said. “We’ve been talking about it, how Coach Pruitt’s going to be rebuilding the team, how I could be a big asset to the team if I were to go there. That’s the main thing they’re talking about. “He doesn’t bring it up in every conversation,” Murphy added, referring to McCollough. “But he’ll bring it up as much as he can just to keep it in my head.”
“Honestly, Coach Pruitt, he really said it himself,” Murphy said. “It’s really a rebuilding stage, and he needs the players. Right now, he has the coaches. He has the facilities. He has everything that a D-I college football player would want. He just needs the players now to fulfill the win column.”
“It’s been an everyday, constant thing with me and Tennessee,” Murphy said, adding that he’s being recruited by the Vols to play outside linebacker in their 3-4 base defense. “(They have said) just that I’d be a great asset to their run defense, setting that edge, making it hard to get around. They really didn’t say much about pass rushing, except for the fact that I would be out there in a wide-nine (technique) or a six rushing the passer.”
