Stock rising: Freshman Myles Murphy’s Clemson football debut draws rave reviews
For the past four years, Joe Gerda watched Myles Murphy dominate on the high school level.
Gerda was Murphy’s defensive line coach at Hillgrove High School in Georgia and watched the soft-spoken defensive end become the school’s latest superstar. Hillgrove produced current NFL players Bradley Chubb (Cleveland Browns), Evan Engram (New York Giants) and Kenyan Drake (Arizona Cardinals).
But Gerda wasn’t sure what to expect when he turned on the TV Saturday to watch Murphy in his Clemson debut against Wake Forest. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Murphy was that same dominant player Gerda watched so many times, leading the Tigers with seven tackles (three for loss) and two sacks in the 37-13 victory.
“I was very surprised to see the stat line,” Gerda said. “His ability to get rid of blocks so quickly at the college level was a surprise to me. He was always able to do that at the high school level. He was a man among boys. But to do it against Wake Forest and grown men is pretty impressive.”
Murphy, who talked with reporters this week for the first time since arriving at Clemson in January, admitted he had first-game jitters, but they went away after the first few plays. He played 29 snaps, fourth most along the Tigers’ defensive line Saturday.
“The first drive I was nervous. After you make first contact on the field, it gets out of your body,” Murphy said. “The rest of the game felt like high school ball and doing what I do on the field.”
Murphy’s first-game performance drew high praise from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
Venables called Murphy a “total freak-a-zoid” on signing day in December for his physical tools. Gerda said Murphy benched 275 pounds as a freshman and also ran a 4.65 40-yard dash.
On Monday, Venables compared Murphy to former Tiger and New York Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence as far as being game-ready the moment they stepped on campus. Murphy was the first Clemson freshman to record multiple sacks in a game since Lawrence did it in the 2016 ACC Championship Game.
“He has so much natural ability, is so powerful and physical. Most young players, the physical part is the last thing to come,” Venables said. “He got a great motor and is very cerebral and very intelligent. It is remarkable what he has picked up.”
“He is still a hot stock that I would buy all day even at a higher price because of the tremendous growth.”
Gerda witnessed that growth over the past decade. He remembers first meeting Murphy in the fourth grade when the future five-star prospect stood at almost 6-feet tall and was Hillgrove’s ball boy.
“I knew from day one he was gifted,” Murphy said.
Gerda lobbied for Murphy to play on the varsity team as a freshman, and it worked out despite having his share of ups and downs.
From there, the college offers started to roll in. Georgia was the first but he committed to Clemson on May 17, 2019.
Murphy was the ranked No. 7 overall and top defensive end prospect in the country by 247Sports. He played in the Under Armour All-American game and had 108 tackles, 35 for loss and 17.5 sacks over his final two seasons.
Murphy was one the jewels of Clemson’s 2020 recruiting class, which included No. 1 overall player Bryan Bresee and five-star quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.
“As a freshman he made a lot of mistakes, but his ability to chase balls down was uncanny,” Gerda said. “Going into sophomore year, he started getting offers and the confidence level rose. You just saw this switch come on. Once he had confidence, sky was the limit.”
