Twenty-nine years ago, Kevin Murray lived one of the most memorable years of his entire life.
In addition to breaking almost every single season-passing record for the Aggies, Murray led his team to a Southwest Conference championship on Thanksgiving night against the Longhorns in a 42-7 win at Kyle Field that officially changed the college football landscape in the state of Texas for more than a decade. A little more than a month later, Murray and Co. drilled Bo Jackson's Auburn Tigers that forever cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats in College Station.
What if I told you that as we slide under the two-week mark until National Signing Day, Murray's son has a chance to swing the momentum in the college football landscape in the state of Texas much like his father did three decades ago, and he has a chance to do so with a man that worked day-in and day-out with his father during that special season?
What if I told you that somewhere out there is a 1985 Texas A&M media guide with Kevin Murray's picture in it, as well as a certain 25-year old graduate assistant who just happens to be front and center in the final weeks of his son's recruitment?
What if I told you that the 25-year old graduate assistant, who was with Murray for much of that special season in 1985, greeted him at the doors of the football facilities in Austin on Wednesday?
Yes, that's right, somehow in the last 12 months, and especially in the last two months since the conversation of Kyler Murray's interest in Texas started to heat up, we've all slept on the fact that if you check through Charlie Strong's bio, you'll see that 29 years ago he worked as a Texas A&M graduate assistant at exactly the same time Kevin Murray first set the football world on fire.
Ok, with that little backdrop to the rest of this report established, let's talk about what happened yesterday and where things stand for the Longhorns in relations to the recruitment of Allen star Kyler Murray.
1. The word going around the grapevine today was that Strong knocked it out of the damn park yesterday on the visit. KNOCKED IT OUT. Whatever Kyler was expecting, it surpassed it in a big, big way.
2. I get the sense that the only thing Kevin Murray cares about in his son's recruitment is that he hands him off to a head coach that he can trust without reservations and the coach who seems to fit that bill the most is Strong.
3. It sounds like a decision has been made and that a press conference will be held next week to make the announcement. There won't be a hat game or anything remotely similar. From what I was told on Thursday night, this will be done with the intention of highlighting who Murray signs with and not the opposite.
4. The baseball component of his decision is a big deal and while it wasn't a factor on his visit on Wednesday, the chance to play for Augie Garrido and the Texas baseball program is a big advantage for the Longhorns if he decides not to sign a pro baseball deal following this summer's MLB Draft.
5. One of the underrated elements of this recruitment for the Longhorns has been the presence of Shawn Watson, who is viewed favorably by Kyler and Kevin, along with defensive tackles coach Chris Rumph. Strong, Watson and Rumph were front and center all day yesterday.
6. Texas sources were optimistic and positive about the visit and what might loom in the future, but they weren't counting any chickens. Most of the strongest buzz about the Longhorns and Murray that surfaced today originated from the Allen side of things.
7. In addition to all of the good news on the Kyler Murray front, the Longhorns have made a huge move with Cedar Hill wide receiver Damarkus Lodge and once source with knowledge of his recruitment said that the Longhorns were now in Lodge's top two, along with Mississippi. It's a rather stunning development in the minds of some that know Lodge personally, but his interest in the Longhorns was described today as "very real" and the Rebels were described as "very beatable" per one person we spoke with on Thursday night.
8. Suchomel will have a little more on Soso Jamabo a little further down in the War Room, but the vibe I'm getting from numerous sources is that his family is hopeful that the Longhorns blow him away because they would love for him to stay close to home. This is a UCLA/Texas battle and the Bruins lead going into the trip, but most seem to believe that could change in a hurry by the weekend. I was told Jamabo's mom has been very excited about the trip all week long.
9. Keep an eye on events in Austin tomorrow. There could be another big piece of the puzzle coming into play.
So, what does all of this mean, especially as it relates to Murray?
It means that after months of nurturing this recruitment behind the scenes without almost zero fanfare, the Longhorns have positioned itself to land the single-most important recruit in the 2015 year by the end of next week and the ripple that could create might just start a recruiting tsunami. I'm not telling you tonight that it is definitely going to happen because there's a part of me that doesn't believe it and I've been digging around on this story for months, but what I am telling you is that every single person we communicated with on Thursday was indicating that things are moving in a burnt orange direction.
And should that happen, there's an expected gold rush that will take place for the Longhorns in the final week of the recruiting process.
Everything is in play.
(Ketch)
******
Now that Kyler Murray has made his presence felt in the world of Texas Longhorns recruiting, a lot of people are curious not just about where he'll end up but also about his future in another sport - baseball. If you're not aware, Murray is an extremely talented baseball player. He's maybe more talented on the diamond than he is on the gridiron. As a middle infielder prospect, Murray has the attention of every MLB organization as the high school baseball season is on the horizon and the MLB Draft is just a few months away. So with that in mind, I asked six people involved in a Major League scouting department their thoughts on where Murray rates, right now, as a draft prospect. Here are some thoughts:
--- The majority put a first-round grade on Murray. A couple of clubs said third round with a first-round ceiling. One club described him as a no-doubt first-rounder. Basically, the consensus is that he's a top 40 draft prospect that could be No. 40 on some boards and maybe No. 15 on others.
If you don't follow the MLB Draft, the pick value assigned to the No. 40 pick in last year's draft was $1,420,800 and the No. 15 pick was assigned a price tag of $2,475,600.
The one thing that could really work in the favor of the college program that signs Murray is that the draft bonus rules passed a couple of years ago make it tougher for teams to take gambles early in the draft, and tougher to throw way over-slot bonuses at later picks.
--- A factor almost as important as talent come draft time is signability, which basically means how strong of a chance there is that prospect will sign on the dotted line when he's drafted. In the past, two-sport athletes have been, generally speaking, viewed as tougher players to sign because of their interest in football, especially highly-rated football players.
After talking to these MLB people about Murray, the vibe I received was that teams really don't know how to view Murray's signability right now. One organization in particular told me people across baseball have been trying to crack the code to get signability info about Murray and haven't been successful, which is a rarity in baseball. Normally, scouts and executives don't have a problem getting the family to give them the info they are looking for. It sounded to me like more pro people thought the chances were higher of him going to college than signing. Murray's uncle Calvin, who played at Texas, passed up the opportunity to sign out of high school.
--- If you're wondering about Texas baseball and Murray, the knowledge of the Texas baseball program and its staff is something Murray has known about for a long time. When Murray made his trip to Austin on Wednesday, it was strictly a football trip, according to a source. That's because the familiarity from the baseball side of things is already there, and everyone knows that he'll have a spot on the roster if he enrolls at Texas. Obviously, Texas isn't going to have an issue from the baseball side of things if Murray plays football. (McComas)
******
Along with this week's news of Murray and Lodge visiting Texas on Wednesday, the other hot topic has been the situation with long-time UT quarterback commitment Zach Gentry.
For those who might have somehow missed it, Gentry will take an official visit to Michigan this weekend, and there are some pretty strong signs that he is strongly considering a flip to the Wolverines.
Let's look at some facts before hitting on some highlights from a conversation I had with a source on Thursday morning.
Harbaugh visited Gentry early this week, which set things in motion.
Rumors have popped up in the past about Gentry having an interest in other schools (LSU was mentioned at one time) and Gentry was quick to respond to our requests for an update, always shooting down those rumors. This week, Gentry has been completely silent when asked about the Michigan visit. That in itself is pretty telling.
On the surface, it might seem that Gentry's interest in Michigan has originated due to the mutual interest between Texas and Murray. From my conversations, it sounds like Gentry may have been considering exploring his options for a while.
One person I spoke with this week said he's been told that part of Gentry's concerns center on the stability at Texas, both in coaches and in offensive scheme.
"He knows Watson is getting heat. I know that's on Zach's mind," one source said. "What happens is Watson's not there and could they be changing scheme?"
With Michigan, Gentry sees a sure-fire pro-style offense, which is what he strongly prefers.
Texas will have a chance to combat some of these issues on Friday morning, and possibly again next week. Watson is scheduled to meet with Gentry on Friday morning before Gentry and his father fly to Michigan. Charlie Strong still has his in-home visit with Gentry, which he'll likely use next week depending on Gentry's status following the Michigan visit.
Right now, there are enough signs pointing towards a very strong interest in Michigan (at the least) that this one has a feel that Texas will have to work hard to retain Gentry's commitment. Gentry took his status of being a Texas commitment of his Twitter page. He recently started following The Jim Harbaugh and Michigan assistant coaches Tim Drevno and Jedd Fisch.
"I don't know exactly what Zach's thinking right now," a source told me on Thursday morning. "I'm not completely sure why he's cooled on Texas. I don't even know if Zach's still committed."
Of note, while Michigan seems to be the biggest threat to Texas, we're told that other schools are likely to come through Albuquerque next week for school and in-home visits. If Gentry is entertaining the recruiting pitches of multiple schools, that's a pretty strong sign of where this one is heading. (Suchomel)
******
Five-star running back Soso Jamabo began his official visit to Texas on Thursday and will see it wrap up on Saturday so he can get back to Plano West for his team's football banquet.
Jamabo doesn't talk much, even to those in the football offices at Plano West, but I caught up with a source with knowledge of his recruitment to get some details heading into his UT visit.
A couple weeks ago, this one looked like it was trending UCLA's way, but Texas is surging down the stretch, especially with the news of Murray's visit. Jamabo and Murray want to play together in college, and Texas is the only mutual school on their lists (Jamabo is pretty much down to Texas and UCLA ... we're told Notre Dame is now out of it and Jamabo isn't very fond of A&M).
As of midweek, a couple people at Jamabo's school said they did not think Jamabao knows where he's going, but they too thought it was a Longhorns/Bruins battle.
"One guy thought that Soso has known all along about Murray and Lodge taking this visit eventually and that it essentially comes down to what those two guys do. If Murray goes to Texas, Soso is a lock, but if he doesn't it's 50-50 UCLA and Texas," our source said.
UCLA's still very much a player in this one, but it's important to note that Jamabo's visit to Cali was back in early October. Texas is fresh in his mind and his interest in the Longhorns is definitely on the uptick. A couple weeks ago, these same sources thought he was all but locked in for UCLA but with this week's developments, this one has taken on a whole new feel.
Get Murray, and Texas almost certainly gets Jamabo. And Lodge. And Daylon Mack. (Suchomel)
It's worth it IMO. Kyler Murray would start Day 1 over the QBs we already have on campus & currently commited to us. Plus:
Have you seen Gentry's competition??!! They look worse.
Texags confirming Kyler Murray flip watch
How quickly y'all forget. Mack Brown was probably the best recruiter in the nation during his last few years at UNC and then for many years at Texas.