(Photo Courtesy of Gabriel Murphy/Twitter)
North Texas Edge Rusher Transfers Gabriel and Grayson Murphy Commit to UCLA Football
The Bruins have scored a two-for-one addition for their front seven.
UCLA football earned commitments from edge rushers Gabriel and Grayson Murphy on Monday, they announced on social media. The twins entered the transfer portal on Jan. 27 after three years at North Texas.
Both Gabriel and Grayson were also sitting on offers from Oregon State, Kansas, Penn State, West Virginia, USC, Duke and Nebraska, but ultimately decided to pledge themselves to the Bruins.
UCLA offered the Murphys on Jan. 29 after new outside linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe made an in-home visit to their house in Dallas, Texas.
The pair was part of a big group of transfers and rising high school seniors who took visits to Westwood over the weekend, a group that also included Rutgers offensive tackle Raiqwon O'Neal, who committed Sunday afternoon.
UCLA stands apart from most schools at this point in the transfer portal cycle since the school is on the quarter system and can enroll commits in late March should they so choose. Doing so would get them on campus and in classes in time for spring practices, which are set to start up in the coming weeks.
Adding the Murphys before then gives the Bruins a big boost on the edge, considering how much they had lost and how many question marks remained heading into the 2022 campaign.
Mitchell Agude unexpectedly entered the transfer portal Feb. 16, following in the footsteps of his backup Myles Jackson, who did the same at the end of the regular season and wound up committing to Indiana. The only incoming freshman at the position, DeAndre Gill, decommitted just before National Signing Day in February.
The only remaining pieces at the outside linebacker-defensive end spot were Laiatu Latu, an incoming transfer from Washington coming out of medical retirement, and Devin Aupiu, who had just five tackles and six appearances as a true freshman in 2021.
UCLA is now four-deep at the edge position, with two fresh faces joining the fray after putting up numbers in Denton, Texas.
Gabriel and Grayson were both consensus three-star recruits coming out of Bishop Lynch High School (TX) in Dallas, and they stood as the same package deal back in 2019 when they were offered by Air Force, Connecticut, Navy, Texas State, Tulane and UTSA.
The duo redshirted the 2019 season, but still got on the field for four games each. In 2020, they each made a pair of starts and became more regular members of the rotation at defensive end. Gabriel recorded 18 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a team-high 4.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble as a redshirt freshman that year, while Grayson finished with 19 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and four quarterback hurries.
The Murphy twins were teammates with cornerback Cameron Johnson for those two seasons, before Johnson transferred to UCLA and made an immediate impact as a starter in his lone season in Westwood.
Gabriel and Grayson each started all 13 games for the Mean Green in 2021, with Gabriel picking up 52 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, nine quarterback hurries and three pass breakups and Grayson notching 38 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery for a touchdown and nine quarterback hurries.
Pro Football Focus named both to All-Conference USA teams, with Gabriel earning Second Team honors and Grayson making the Third Team, while Grayson was an honorable mention according to the conference's coaches.
The Murphys, who became the ninth and 10th transfers to join the Bruins this offseason, have as many as three years of eligibility remaining.
Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.
Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA football stories: UCLA Football on Sports Illustrated
