New Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian got a commitment from the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the 2022 class on Saturday when Maalik Murphy announced his intention to play for the Longhorns.
Murphy is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound signal-caller from Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, California. He chose Texas over offers from Baylor, Florida, Miami, Oregon, Penn State, UCLA and others.
“I feel like I will be able to succeed at the highest level playing at the University of Texas with a man like Coach Sark by my side calling the plays,” Murphy said. “Putting me in the best position to showcase my talent and prepare me for the next level.”
Murphy had a relationship with Sarkisian prior to Texas when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator at Alabama. The offense Sarkisian ran at Alabama, and now what he plans on running at Texas, were attractive to Murphy and ultimately led him to his commitment.
“I feel like he’s very versatile. We can do a lot as an offense,” Murphy said. “He’s able to utilize the back, keep a strong run game, at the same time air the ball out and even get the ball to the back in the passing game. Those three elements can lead an offense to major, major success.”
On to the next chapter. Committed. #AllGasNoBrakes pic.twitter.com/VKNuApsmcW
— Maalik (@SmvOperator) February 13, 2021
As the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the class, and the No. 16 prospect overall, Murphy is ranked behind quarterback Quinn Ewers, the No. 1 overall recruit. Ewers had been committed to the Longhorns, but he decommitted in October and flipped to Ohio State.
Murphy didn’t have much contact with the prior staff at Texas once Ewers committed, and former Longhorns offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich left for the same position at Penn State.
“Texas wasn’t in the mix yet because I didn’t know who the guy would be,” Murphy said. “Once Sark got there, I knew it would be something special and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Sarkisian needed a quarterback in this class. And while it looked as though Ewers would stick with his commitment to the Buckeyes, the new staff was able to land Murphy in a short time frame. He’s not the first commitment in the class for Sarkisian, but he is now the highest-ranked commitment in the 2022 class.
He joins ESPN Junior 300 commitments in wide receiver Armani Winfield, running back Jaydon Blue and cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau at Texas.
