A recruitment that has gone on for the better part of two years ended today when Miami Ohio offered Jared Murphy and received a commitment from the Columbia City receiver, who says the relationship was a big part of it.
"Well, I first met Coach Bath when he came to Fort Wayne when I was a sophomore and worked me out along with a few other guys. That's when the relationship started. I went there three times this spring: the junior day, for a spring practice and the spring game, and it's a great campus and they have great academics. It felt like a family. What stood out to me was they were very honest 100% of the time and very upfront with me. They made my family feel welcome, me feel welcome, the campus felt right, football felt right, and the academics were right. The coaches are great people. They're Christians, and so I committed."
Murphy has shown time and time again from last season to many offseason 7 on 7s, camps and combines, that he is a tough matchup because of his quickness, route running and hands. He will now bring those tools to the Redhawk offense.
"I don't think they're completely positive where they'll use me at. Obviously wide receiver, but in their offense, they throw it around a lot to different types of receivers. One thing they like about me is, they can move me around to different spots. My size probably limits me to more of a slot position. They'll use me on special teams. As far as depth chart goes, they have a lot of good wide receivers, so I want to go in, look to compete right away, but if there are guys ahead of me, I'll take advantage of sitting and learning."
Murphy isn't one of the biggest guys on the field at 5'8, 160-lbs, but he has worked hard to overcome that and he will also bring that kind of mentality to Oxford.
"There have been a couple people mention chip on my shoulder, and I definitely play with it. I felt like I've been disrespected a little bit through the process, I'm sure everyone feels like that. It's a great feeling to be committed to a great school though. All the hours I put in with AWP...I don't think I could have done it without AWP. Their staff prepared me as a sophomore for 7 on 7's and one days, and this year as a junior, so I can dominate some of the events. I was going to a lot of events, performing well, but still wasn't getting a ton of interest. It definitely motivated me and AWP definitely prepared me well."