Texas Longhorns: The Silver Lining in the Recruitment of Kyler Murray
College football recruiting is all about momentum, and anyone who follows the process knows that all of it can shift on a dime. A week ago, fans discovered that Texas A&M quarterback commit Kyler Murray, had taken an under-the-radar trip to Austin to meet with Charlie Strong and the Texas Longhorns. It was later discovered that talks had actually been happening for quite a while.
The Longhorns, in desperate need of quarterback (particularly after losing Zach Gentry to Michigan), began to truly believe they may have found their answer. Adding to the excitement was the fact that several of the state’s top recruits would likely follow him to the Forty Acres.
In the end, however, Murray decided to follow his heart and remain with Texas A&M.
Needless to say, Texas fans were distraught.
But only briefly.
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It suddenly became clear that Murray’s mere flirtation with Texas opened doors for some other key recruits that had been all but closed.
First and foremost, when news broke that Murray was considering joining Strong’s staff, five-star DT Daylon Mack, who long ago seemed to write off the Longhorns, cancelled a previously scheduled visit to another school to instead make an official to Austin. Now, it appears that the Longhorns are in the driver’s seat for him, regardless of the fact that Murray won’t be coming. That visit would most likely have never happened without Murray’s.
Additionally, wide receiver recruit John Burt, who previously decommited from Texas due to quarterback concerns, jumped back on board, affirming his decision to play for the Longhorns.
If Murray’s decision to stay-put shifted momentum back to the Aggies, it didn’t last long. Defensive backs Holton Hill and Kris Boyd, who visited College Station last weekend and had many believing they would choose the Aggies in the end, both committed to play for the Longhorns today. Soon after, Boyd’s brother DeMarcus became one of the first commits in the 2016 class.
It’s impossible to say what would have happened with these three if Murray hadn’t shown Texas any interest, but the buzz surrounding the program because of his visit certainly didn’t hurt.
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Lastly, there’s DaMarkus Lodge.
It was long rumored that Murray and Lodge preferred to play together; in fact, he was with Murray when they visited Austin last week.
Everything from their trip indicates that Lodge, who hadn’t shown the Longhorns the time of day, greatly enjoyed his visit to the Forty Acres. In fact, he lists Texas, A&M, and Ole Miss as his final three schools. The Horns appear to be a long shot, but Texas wouldn’t have even been in the conversation for Lodge if he hadn’t accompanied the Murrays to Austin.
His recruitment is probably the one most affected by Murray’s decision to stay at A&M. Now, the odds favor Ole Miss, but there are several people around the Texas program that believe there is a strong chance they may have won him over.
Sure, the Texas fan base got their hopes up, and in the end it didn’t work out. However, there is still some good that came out of Murray’s flirtation, however brief it may have been.
Yes, a long-time Aggie commit and the son of an Aggie legend ironically provided the spark that Texas needed to finish off the incoming class on a high note.
So although the Longhorns continue in their years-long search for the next great Texas quarterback, and anything can change in these last few days before signing day, the brief interest Murray showed them enabled Charlie Strong and Company to capture some last minute but very crucial momentum.