Vincent Murphy played in just three games over two seasons with the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Murphy, who arrived in Columbia as a highly praised candidate at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, continues to make a strong impression on the offensive lineman Greg Adkins. On Monday, the first-year assistant coach singled out Murphy as an inexperienced and emerging player in a group full of veterans with initial experience.
“I like what Vinny Murphy is doing, I really like it,” said Adkins. “He’s a guy who’s working too hard. He’s playing center and guarding now. I like what he’s doing, like a guy nobody knows, because he never played.
“I like what he’s doing now, if I signaled to a guy that probably none of you heard much.”
According to the 247Sports compound, Murphy was the pivot in seventh position in the 2019 class. He played one game (Charleston Southern) that season for South Carolina, before appearing in two (Vanderbilt, Kentucky) last year.
“I think he just works on the game,” said Adkins. “He loves football. He loves the game. You have to expel him from this place. He always wants to talk about the ball. He’s always wanting to watch a movie. It is important to him. … I think that the more people we get, in general, I’m not just highlighting Vinny, but the more people we can work with, that’s what we want.
“Not just the o-line, but the attack, the defense, the special teams – the whole, everyone. The more people who want to work that way, the faster we can continue to move forward. “
And this is important for the technical committee, especially at the beginning. Play fast. Be physical.
“Whatever we do, just be very quick and physical and generally good things will happen,” said Adkins.
It looks like Murphy is doing everything he can to make sure this happens when he touches the field.