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Steve Sarkisian praises Maalik Murphy’s commitment to Texas: ‘He didn’t stay because of NIL’
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Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Longhorns took care of the BYU Cougars on Saturday, winning 35-6. This performance was without star QB Quinn Ewers, who had been dealing with an injury.
Maalik Murphy was thrust into the starting role after the injury to Quinn Ewers and handled the job well on Saturday. Murphy completed 16 of his 25 pass attempts for 170 yards and 2 TDs.
After the game, Sark took time to praise the young QB for his commitment to Texas. Sark went on a lengthy spiel, saying the following:
To me, in this era of ‘things don’t go my way, I’m going to take my ball and go somewhere else,’ to have players on your roster that believe in this team, that believe in this football program, that believe in this university, that love being here, that’s I think ultimately why the culture is the way it is in our locker room. For Maalik Murphy to commit to the University of Texas, and then Quinn Ewers decides to transfer to Texas, he doesn’t blink. He still comes here. He’s fighting through an injury his freshman year that he had sustained in the state championship game, and Arch Manning commits and shows up. Two No. 1 players in the country, back to back, show up. He goes out and has a really good spring game, and people go out and allegedly are trying to recruit him to transfer.
Murphy easily could have transferred and likely started elsewhere. Instead, the QB stayed and prepared for any shot he may get behind Ewers.
Many may point to NIL as the reason Murphy stayed, but Sark says that’s not the case:
I know this and I’m going to be candid on this: he didn’t stay because of NIL. I had my exit meeting. He didn’t bring up one thing about NIL. He stayed because he wanted to be part of this team, and he wanted to make sure he had an opportunity to compete. That’s what makes him special. I think that’s why our team really loves him so much. He loves his teammates. He’s a great teammate. He motivates Quinn when Quinn is in there. He’s a great teammate with Arch. That’s why that quarterback room is so good right now. Those guys have great rapport with one another. It was not about Maalik making his start as much as it was ‘Maalik’s starting, how are we going to go win the game?
The Longhorns improved to 7-1 on Saturday, with a matchup against Kansas State next on the docket.
Check below to see Sark’s full presser:
Bryce Lazenby covers college football for Saturday Down South. A Nashville native, his previous stops include FanSided, Dimers, and The Leaf-Chronicle.
