Eagles Land QB

The Boston College quarterback situation looked quite unclear heading into spring ball. With starting quarterback Chase Rettig lost to graduation it appeared that either Josh Bordner or true freshman Darius Wade would be the frontrunners for the starting job. There looks to be a new leading candidate now that Florida transfer Tyler Murphy is headed to the Heights.

Murphy is a 5th year senior and will have one year of eligibility remaining. The Connecticut native started six games for Florida last year after starting quarterback Jeff Driskel went down with a season-ending injury. Murphy completed 112-of-185 passes for 1,216 yards, 6 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

So what is BC getting with Murphy? Who better to ask than Murphy's personal quarterback coach Travis Meyer, who runs the Five Star Quarterback school in Connecticut. Meyer started working with Murphy after his junior year of high school, so he knows Murphy very well.

"Tyler came into college known as a dual threat because he truly is a great runner. I think the thing that got him recruited by Florida is that he is a great passer. He goes through his progressions and tries to find his last receivers before running. He isn't a run-first guy, he just happens to run very well. He's a very accurate quarterback and has good decision making," said Meyer.

Meyer said at times Murphy was almost too careful with the ball this year because he didn't want to make mistakes. Murphy get more and more comfortable running the offense with each start though and was becoming more aggressive right before a shoulder injury ended his season.

Murphy performed pretty well when he finally got on the field this year. It was a long journey for the quarterback who came to Florida a little behind other quarterbacks in terms of experience with a college offense.

"He didn't have a lot of guys you could throw too in high school like the freak athletes you see in college. He did a lot of running and a lot of the throws he made were some pretty incredible passes to try and make something happen," explained Meyer. "When he got to college I don't think he was as prepared as other kids throughout the country to come in and pick up a complicated offense. He's a smart kid though and he picked it up, and it has developed his football IQ. His football IQ is what has improved the most since I started working with him in high school.

Murphy typically works out with Meyer a few times in the offseason. Once the quarterback got to campus, the two would stay in touch talking 1-2 times per week. Because of Murphy and Meyers' strong relationship, Murphy consulted with his quarterback coach about the decision on where he should play his last year of college. Originally Louisville looked like the best fit, but once Charlie Strong left for Texas, BC emerged as the leader. So why did Murphy choose BC?

"Number one is Coach Addazio. I have dealt with a number of college coaches and he is absolutely the most trustworthy of any of them I have ever met. That's not to take anything away from some of the other ones either. I always have felt like we could trust him. Also, he's an intense coach and a very good coach and I would certainly have no problem sending any player to him," said Meyer.

Meyer also said that BC's academic reputation and Addazio's style of play was icing on the cake.

"Tyler is a very smart kid and he wants to go to a good school. So that was an easy part of the decision. The third reason is Tyler didn't want to go somewhere and run all the time. He can certainly move and is a very good runner but he wants to throw. He wants a shot at the NFL and he has proven he can run and now he wants to show everyone he is a good passer," said Meyer.

Murphy is expected to arrive on campus shortly. Meyer said that Murphy is still rehabbing his injury, but he should be ready for spring practice.