Myles Murphy is 'As Advertised'
When the Clemson Tigers signed their 2020 recruiting class there was an understanding that they had some needs that had to be filled, namely on the defensive line.
Last season, saw the Tiger defensive coordinator Brent Venables shift from his trademark 4-3 defense to a three down lineman look due to the lack of depth and size from his 2019 squad. All of that changed with the signing of the 2020 class, which featured the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 27 ranked defensive linemen, Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy and Demonte Capehart, all inking with the Tigers.
Having three ready-made defensive linemen on campus this spring has the normally subdued Venables in a jovial mood.
"Man, they're three big, strong, athletic, smart, tough guys," Venables said. "They know how to compete and very coachable and they've been working really hard to learn to know what to do and how to do it. They've all had their moments where they looked really, really good, and then some other moments where, again, they're still learning just again what to do like you would expect. But got great motors and great skill and they're going to have to help us."
In fact, the motors and 'skill' of one of these true freshman has not only caught the eyes of Venables — they have also impressed the offensive coaches.
"I'll tell you the one who has caught my attention on the defensive side of the ball — obviously Bresee has and he's advertised but he's been a little limited with the knee — but Myles Murphy," offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. "Oh my gosh. He's uhh ... definitely as advertised. He'll push those other guys at that position from my perspective.
"He's fast, instinctual, he's got a motor. He's got a good change of direction. And you can tell he's a student of the game. He's almost polished for a young guy."
Venables echoed the sentiment of his coaching counterpart, saying that the game is 'slow for him' and that part of what makes Murphy so special is how well he was coached at Hillgrove High School.
"He comes with really good fundamentals, knows how to play low and with leverage, very explosive, he's long," Venables said. "He's not only got good linear speed but good lateral movement and quickness and he sees things fast. I would say like Christian Wilkins could see the game fast and a lot of times you don't want guys to see too much. But some guys just naturally, they can see a lot but they still do their job well. Again, he's got a lot of work to do there, but those are some things that jumped out.
"He's strong. I don't know what his weight room strength is. I haven't really asked the strength coaches there, but he plays strong, he's a good strong point of attack guy, which again for some freshmen they're not able to do that. That's something that comes on a little later rather than sooner, but that's been good as well. I think he's got some natural ability as a pass rusher. He's really athletic, can flip his hip, so we were pleased with Myles."
