Hurricanes’ Jimmy Murphy kicks off senior season at his favorite position, kickoff

Going into his redshirt senior season, Jimmy Murphy is one of the few players on the Miami Hurricanes that has made special teams his position.

“My favorite is kickoff,” said Murphy said. “Just go down there and do your assignment correct and make the tackle.”

A walk-on at the University of Miami after transferring from Wagner College, Murphy has been listed as a linebacker, a cornerback and currently a running back, but it’s in the special teams unit where he has made a name for himself.

HIs first appearance on the field for the Hurricanes was on kickoff in a 77-0 blowout over Savannah State in Week 2 of last season, earning the high praise of then head coach Mark Richt, who said after the game that “The second highlight was watching Jimmy Murphy cover kicks.”

“Guys love him,” Richt said. “He’s a high-energy guy. He wants so badly to play for the Hurricanes and here he is doing it. A lot of people told him he will never step on the field for us and he did and he was knocking people around. Nobody could block him. Of course we can’t block him in practice either. He’s just a little jitterbug.”

When asked during the Hurricanes 2019 media day about his secret to success on special teams, Murphy attributed it to effort.

“I think just effort is a really, really big key to the year,” Murphy said. “Ray Lewis said it, himself. You can’t do anything without effort.”

Murphy takes pride in his performances on kickoffs and while he previously described it as simplistic as possible, he says special teams are beyond simple.

“I think there’s a lot that goes into it, “Murphy said, “a lot of prep that goes into special teams, a lot of discipline. People have to be in sync together. A lot of people think it’s just kickoff or a KOR, kickoff return. There’s a lot that goes into it. You have to do your 1/11th. That’s what we say say here. You got to do your one out of 11.”

Murphy said his favorite kickoff tackle came in a muddy home game against Duke last year. Not because of what happened during the play but the immediate aftermath.

“The tackle is whatever,” Murphy said. “What my favorite thing about it was how my team kind of came together for that occasion. I just love being here at the U.”

For the past two years Murphy was listed at 5-7, 195 pounds. This year he’s listed at 185 pounds and he credits the work of first year strength and conditioning coach David Feeley for his improvement.

“I just think he’s if not the smartest, one of the smartest people I know taking care of your bodies,” Murphy said. “I trust him, a hundred percent.”

Murphy said he’s faster now than before because of Feeley and he didn’t even know it until it was demonstrated to him.

“I never knew how fast we were running,” Murphy said. “He brought in the catapults and everything that we understood of how fast we were actually running. Everyone is trying to get 20 mph here every day in practice.”

The Hurricanes begin the 2019 season against the Florida Gators at Orlando on Saturday in a game with make-or-break implications. With the flip of a coin, Murphy might be one of the first 11 to usher it in with a newfound dash towards the ball.