After a flurry of personnel changes after previous head coach Mike Elko’s departure to Texas A&M, the Blue Devils have added a significant one.
Former Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy, ranked fourth in the transfer portal by 247 Sports, verbally committed to Duke on Friday, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, then verified his decision on social media Saturday. Murphy was a four-star recruit in the 2022 class and has three years of eligibility.
Head coach Manny Diaz apparently had a good relationship with Murphy extending back to the Texas Longhorn’s middle school years, and Diaz was able to persuade the highly regarded signal caller to join him to Durham. Before committing to Texas as a prep prospect, Murphy was offered by Penn State, where Diaz had served as defensive coordinator.
The claim comes after the Blue Devils lost two of their own quarterbacks: Riley Leonard moved to Notre Dame on December 12 and four-star class of 2024 prospect Tyler Cherry decommitted from Duke on December 15. Cherry’s decision to leave the school came only one day after it was rumored that Diaz would appoint SMU offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer to lead his unit. Murphy will join redshirt freshman Henry Belin IV, freshman Grayson Loftis, and freshman Donald Tomlin in the Blue Devils’ quarterback room.
At his previous school, Murphy was a part of one of the most talented quarterback rooms in the country, battling for playing time alongside two No. 1-ranked recruits in Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning. Ewers, the top recruit in the class of 2021, initially committed to Ohio State before transferring to Texas before the 2022 season. Manning, the nephew of former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, was the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2023.
While Murphy did not win the starting job over Ewers, he beat out Manning to be the backup quarterback for the Longhorns as a redshirt freshman, and started two games this season after Ewers went down with an injury. In his two starts against BYU and then-No. 23 Kansas State, Murphy threw for 418 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. He did not attempt any rushes in either game.
However, his playing time the rest of the season was limited as Ewers returned and No. 3 Texas pushed for a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns won the Big 12 and will face No. 2 Washington in the Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Jan. 1.
Murphy chose to leave the team before its playoff game in order to give himself more time to find a new school and begin his transition. In a report describing his decision from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Murphy said that he was looking for “a place that I can play.”
Diaz will have the entire offseason to determine who his starting quarterback will be. Although both Belin and Loftis started games for Duke last season, Murphy may very well be atop the depth chart heading into the spring.
