Tennessee 2017 QB Jacob Murphree Prepping to Showcase Talents on Camp Circuit

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

The last two seasons on the gridiron for Dickson County High School quarterback Jacob Murphree have been the learning fields and proving grounds for the rising Class of 2017 star. Murphree has grown as a player and a leader moving the offense from a Wing-T attack to a spread attack by his junior season.

As the 6’2”, 190 pound, talent stepped out of the shadows of a run-first Wing-T set to a spread, so has his college looks. During his sophomore season he completed 78 of 138 passes for 1,174 yards with nine scores rushing for 278 yards off 37 carries with another four touchdowns in just five games. During his junior campaign, the stat line bumped up as expected with his growing understanding of the game hitting 176 of 310 passes for 2,634 yards with 27 scores. He also carried the rock 42 times covering 304 yards with four more touchdowns.

Murphree finished the 2015 season earning All-District and District MVP Offensive Back honors while catching the eye of college coaches near and far. Recruiting attention is building with Memphis, Western Kentucky, Yale, Columbia, North Carolina State, and University of Tennessee, among others, all showing various levels of interest.

The Cougars have been in an up-and-down swing in recent years with changes in the offense and a change at the after the 2015 season concluded. Dickson County parted ways with head coach Troy Williams leaving uncertainty ahead for the program and the players. One thing that is assured, Murhpree is ready to show off what he can do in the pocket during the offseason once the college camp circuit starts up.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I sat down with Murphree before he hits the offseason camp circuit to find out his schedule, his offseason workout plans, and received a recruiting update.

Interview

Jacob, the Cougars lost their head coach fairly recently. Does that put your future with Dickson County in limbo?

“Yeah, our head coach just resigned. I’m not sure now if I will transfer or stay. We’ll see.”

Since we are unsure where you may play next season, I’ll skip asking team related questions.

“Okay.”

How has your game progressed on the field over the last two seasons?

“It definitely has been huge. My sophomore year was our first year in the spread after running the Wing-T my freshman year. The change in style was different and we deployed a more vertical attack my sophomore year with a lot of deep outs and slants. My junior year, we got a new offensive coordinator from Cumberland University. His spread attack was different. He was big on reading the defense, making progressions, and advancing the ball up the field. My arm strength has increased a lot too. My mental ability to understand the game has increased a lot.”

What are some of the things you feel you do really well in the pocket?

“Right now, I’m doing really well letting plays develop. I’m good at breaking down a defense before a play and getting my pre-snap read correct. I’ve gotten better at basic reads and my progressions. I’m trying to be a field general. I’m working going through all my windows on each play.”

You have some rushing yards on your stat line. With that in mind, do you consider yourself a passing quarterback who can run or a true dual-threat?

“I’d say dual-threat. We don’t do a lot of quarterback runs because of depth. We do a lot read-options. Most of my yards came from scrambling last year.”

What are you doing in your offseason workouts?

“This year I’m trying to take a different approach. I’m doing more drills, more physical work, and focusing on learning the game. I was really trying to focus on our playbook. I’ve been working with my 7×7 team a lot too (AWP – Athletes With Purpose). I was really trying to focus on the offense early in the offseason but now I’m not sure what we’ll run next season. I have been working on my arm strength and longer throws. I’m trying to increase my leadership role. We had a lot of guys miss workouts last year. This year I’m trying to make guys accountable.”

What camps did you go to in 2015?

“I went to a ton of camps. I try to stay away from combines. I went to more college camps like three with Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Youngstown State – a bunch of camps in Ohio. I went to college camps to set relationships with coaches and increase my abilities as well.”

What camps are you going to coming up?

“I’m not 100 percent sure. I know I’m going to a Rivals and Elite 11 camp. The Rivals camp is in Atlanta and the Elite 11 is in Charlotte. I’m trying to wait on the college camps wanting to attend those close by that I have interest from already. I will more than likely attend camps with Bucknell, Western Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee. We’ll see about other camps based off interest.”

Based on your previous answer about the camps, I imagine the next answer will have some overlapping, but which schools are showing interest in you right now?

“Right now, I got back from Junior Day at Knoxville yesterday, I know a couple of their coaches. Bucknell, Yale, Columbia, NCSU (North Carolina State), Memphis, Western Kentucky, and a couple of smaller schools like Augustana in South Dakota and Southern Illinois are also showing interest.

How did Junior Day with the Tennessee go?

“It went really well. There were a lot of players there. I tried to talk to the coaches as much as possible. I love their facilities and the coaches are great. I really loved it.”

I like to find out how things are going in the classroom. Do you have a GPA you don’t mind sharing?

“I have a 3.45.”

Have you taken the ACT or SAT yet?

“I got a 22 on my ACT but I’m going to take it a couple more times. Columbia wants me to get a 27 on the ACT.”

What do you want to major in while in college?

“Business or sports management, I’m not sure yet.”

Did you play or will you play any spring sports for Dickson County?

“I played basketball. Next year I might run track.”

How did your basketball season go?

“It went well. We made it to the first round of region. It was decent. I enjoyed it a lot. It just ended last week. I got my feet a little faster and I love to compete.”

What kind of player are you out on the court?

“I am a shooting guard and a dribble drive guy. This year I was more drive and dish.”

Jacob, thanks for your time today. Good luck with all the upcoming camps.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: Murphree family; Jacob at Tennessee.

Photo credit: tennessean.com; No. 3 Jacob Murphree rolls out.