Four-star running back Tirek Murphy breaks down his Purdue commitment
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More: Tirek Murphy commits | Analysis ($): Murphy's commitment
From the outset of the 2020 recruiting cycle, Purdue aimed to parlay both its considerable recruiting momentum, as well as a uniquely opportune situation in its backfield, into landing a difference-maker at running back.
From Day 1, Tirek Murphy was its focus, it seemed.
Saturday, the Boilermaker coaching staff got its man, the one it would seem to believe can be that difference-maker.
Murphy committed midway through his official visit to West Lafayette this weekend, giving Purdue a high-level commitment on par, as a prospect at least, with some of its high-end 2019 signees.
The New York City native is a Rivals.com four-star prospect and ranked 20th nationally at his position, with a litany of offers national in scope to back it up.
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Some of his other favorites did land running back commitments recently — Notre Dame got Chris Tyree and more recently Oregon picked up Trey Benson — and that may have influenced the timing of his decision, he suggested, but not necessarily the decision. Tennessee joined those two schools and Purdue as Murphy's four favorites.
"Coach (Jeff) Brohm and Coach (Chris) Barclay really stressed that I was a major priority for them," Murphy said, "and that I could come in and make an immediate impact, and from an education standpoint, with that degree, it's like a 99-percent chance, that if you don't play football after college, you're going to have a good job. I really took that into consideration, too.
"My mother and father thought it was right, too. We've been to a lot of schools, but you could tell when we came here that the love was genuine and they really wanted me. I wanted to go where I was needed and not somewhere I was just another player, somewhere I can make an immediate impact. Purdue's on the rise. They beat Ohio State last year and just signed the best class in Purdue history, and Coach Brohm's trying to put 12 Power 5 teams on the schedule, so I know he's going to give us a tough schedule."
The 6-foot, 220-pounder from Christ The King in Middle Village, N.Y., part of Queens, should get that opportunity at Purdue, where the depth chart at running back clears out considerably — there are no running backs initially recruited on scholarship left on the roster from the 2016, '17 or '18 classes — leaving this year's freshmen as the only such players on the roster, along with some valuable players who signed on as non-scholarship players.
"I could have the opportunity to start from Day 1, but I still have to compete, of course," said Murphy, who was hosted during his visit by wide receiver Amad Anderson, a Staten Island native. "That's not a problem. I love competing and I'm going to come in with the right mindset and work my tail off and give my blood, sweat and tears for the Boilermakers."
Murphy believes it's his receiving skills from the running back position that largely set him apart, and that's a key element for Purdue at his position.
"Coach Barclay said he has some studs in the backfield, but doesn't have that all-around back that can catch out of the backfield and he can use every down," he said. "He's seen how I can catch the ball and that my speed for my size is great, and we run some of the same schemes at my high school that Purdue does, so it might be easier for me to adapt."
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