Recruiting Report: Jimmy Murphy (2020)

Jimmy Murphy has had by no means your typical football pilgrimage. However, his journey has led him to become a unique and intriguing prospect that one cannot help but to root for upon hearing his story. Born in South Korea, his parents brought him to Minnesota where he began playing football in 3rd grade. After two years in Hopkins, his family moved to Toronto where they spent Murphy's 5th and 6th grade years before moving back to the Hopkins area where he continued playing ball. His love of football already born in Minnesota, Murphy continued playing football in Canada, where he got to experience "wider fields, bigger end zones, and all the funky pre-snap motions" as he told me in an interview for Northstar Football News. He elaborated that "playing in Canada made me grow up and mature as a football player and as a person super fast. Because of where I was living, aside from hockey, Canadian youth football was extremely competitive. The age range was also bigger. So instead of just playing with 5th graders, the ages ranged from 5th to 7th graders, so very quickly I had to learn how to play more physical and out work everyone on the field, especially since I was the youngest of the age range and also not the biggest. And that's the mindset I've carried all the way to my senior year of high school. Just work, work, and more work." This mindset has served him well, as the gritty 6'2, 215 lb. utility TE/FB/LB has taken his worldwide football journey and concentrated it on helping the Hopkins Royals go from a 1-8 record in 2017 to a 4-5 season last year that ended with a tough loss to eventual state champions Lakeville North. Murphy's toughness and ferocity on the field is also evident in his junior year Hudl, and this, plus his recent performance at the U of M camp, has led to recent offers from FCS competitor Valparaiso University in Indiana, as well as D2 University of Urbana in Ohio. I was lucky enough to interview Murphy recently, and the well-spoken rising senior led me a little bit through his expectations for the 2019 season as well as his recruiting. [caption id="attachment_9853" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Credit: Jimmy Murphy[/caption] Murphy told me that his favorite part about football is "doing the 'dirty work.' What I love more than anything is doing whatever it takes for my team to win. Whether it's throwing a big block to spring my RB free, getting a big 3rd down catch, or forcing fumbles on kickoff, a lot of that stuff (I love about football) won't really show up on the stat sheet, but the biggest stat that matters to me is the W." That selflessness can be found throughout the Royals' program, as the 1-8 season in 2017 really ignited a spark within the program. As Murphy told me himself, "the amount of on the field growth we were able to see from so many players on our team was incredible. Younger guys were stepping into their roles, older guys were taking ownership of being leaders, and the team just came together as one unit." He attributed the change to "everyone buying in" and also a commitment to the weight room. Murphy was leading the charge in these regards, and he told me he considers himself a leader on the team, a role in which he takes very passionately. As he told me, "I take being a leader on this team very seriously both on and off the field. Being a leader to me is leading how Jesus calls me to lead. So on the field I lead confidently but also in a humbling manner that doesn't gloat but also gives the glory to Jesus. I also hold myself accountable on the field and never put myself above on on the team or the coaching staff." He went on to say that "off the field I really make an effort to get to know the guys on the team, what they like, what they dislike, their favorite songs etc." His leadership will be crucial if the Royals' hope to build on their 2018 campaign, and Murphy added that "the biggest things we need to do is be flexible and be conditioned. We're not as deep as we were last year so a lot of guys are going to have to play a lot of snaps." He went on to say that "our biggest strengths are our speed and will to win so we pride ourselves on out working the opponent with our speed, our athletes, and just straight up wanting to win more." With big games coming up against Robbinsdale Armstrong on September 5th and Chanhassen on September 20th, Murphy is already ready to do whatever it takes to help his team win. [caption id="attachment_9852" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Murphy and the Royals[/caption] After his junior season ended, Murphy put in the time to send his tape out and generate interest himself. The work has paid off, and as he told me: "I've been hearing from and meeting with a ton of different schools at a ton of different levels. Schools like Wyoming, Drake, UNI, SDSU, USD, and others came to visit at school. I've also been talking with schools such as Butler, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, along with the majority of the D2's in the Northern Sun and the D3's in Minnesota in the MIAC." I was happy to hear that Murphy wasn't ruling out playing at any level, and one of his in-school visits led to his first offer. As he told me, "Valpo came into school to visit once. And then I ended up performing really well during 1on1's at the U of M camp, and they saw that. So then a couple weeks later Coach Dunn (D-line and Run Game Coordinator at Valpo) gave me a call and told me they wanted to offer." The offer was incredibly exciting, and after DMing his film to an Urbana coach that followed him on Twitter, Murphy quickly found himself with two offers on the table. He noted that "coaches really like the versatility and passion I showed on film and that's when a lot of the in-school visits started piling up...I've definitely narrowed my list of schools that I am focusing on but I'm still keeping all levels open!" Murphy helped himself considerably at the U of M's 1on1 portion of the camp, where he told me he felt like "he really opened a lot of coaches eyes. I was feeling really good that day so I even took some back to back reps while others in the group were resting." He also said that "what really helped me that day was running crisp routes. Crisp out routes, solid corner routes, gave good moves at the line for verts, and had solid footwork on my posts." He interestingly noted that "one rep in particular that I think really helped me a lot was when I ran and beat Gopher commit Cody Lindenberg on a corner out with a nifty in and out move with my hips. I was told by Coach Patterson (TE coach for the Gophers) that I could still be working on my zone step footwork for my blocking which I'll definitely take into my season this year." If Jimmy Murphy continues to work and compete with the same mindset that has found him success playing football in two different countries, there is no doubt that he will have a big senior season and more offers on the way. Whatever school lands the 6'2, 215 lb. ATH is getting a experienced and versatile grinder that will do whatever the team needs. Junior year highlights: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6549225/5bd5e59d90f9930c8cc3565e">http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6549225/5bd5e59d90f9930c8cc3565e</a>