I'm pretty sure I never requested Vincent Murphy in the spring, which was an oversight on my part. He will play a key role as the starting center after transferring from Western Kentucky, where he started the past two years (guard in 2022, center in 2023). Before then, he spent three years as a reserve at South Carolina.
This is the first half of a 17-minute interview. I will post the second half later.
On how the newcomers since the end of spring and all of the newcomers like him who participated in spring drills have meshed with the rest of the team:
"That's a great question. I think I've been accepted well. With the new coaching staff, we've also retained a lot of guys from last year, and the group of guys from last year were very welcoming. They understood what I wanted to achieve is what they wanted to achieve, and that's a championship. They came up short last year, and one of our main goals this year is to achieve it. All the guys that we brought in and all the guys that are here now have the same goal and same idea in mind, and that's to win a championship. The camaraderie, the get-along-with-everybody is great. Everyone's on the same page."
On being picked third in AAC:
"I'm not a big social media guy with all that stuff. It doesn't matter to me. We start Aug. 29 with a 7 o'clock kickoff, and when that ball's kicked off, that's when the season starts. I think that (the prediction) is going to change. I know we're set No. 3, but I think that's going to change real quick."
On why left Western Kentucky for Tulane:
"I wanted a place that wanted to win. I wanted to play with a group of guys that had the same idea as me, that weren't one foot in and one foot out. I was ready for something new, a new offense. I was playing for (Western Kentucky coach) Tyson Helton, a big area guy who loves throwing the ball. I wanted an offense that showcased a lot in the run game, too, and a lot in the pass as well, but it was a big factor in me coming here. I played coach Sumrall (at Troy) the past two years (even though Western Kentucky is in Conference USA) and both were losses, but I understood what his objective was. He's been very successful in the Sun Belt conference, and that was very appealing. He's going to be very successful here and I think we're going to have a great team this year."
On being from winning high school program at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas that won state championships in his first two years and lost to eventual winner in next two:
"Junior year we came short. We played Venice at Venice and lost a close game. Then we made the state championship my senior year and played Lakeland, a powerhouse program, and it was a big win for them. it was back-to-back my first two and lost the last two. The kids that go to St. Thomas, winning is in their DNA. We want to win. We want to go out there and dominate. When you go to St. Thomas, you hve the legacy of all the guys that have been drafted and put in the league and what that school has helped guys do getting college scholarships. My class that i was there with, we had a big thing that we wanted to go win a championship, we didn't like losing, so when I went to college at South Carolina, my first year we went like 4-8 (correct). It was weird. I was on a team where some guys were just cool with it because they were playing and accepted it. I was in an awkward state. I was like this is not normal for me. I wasn't happy to be around it."
On his entire South Carolina experience (played 1 game in first year, 2 in second year and 8 in final year):
"My third year was the most I ever played. I played in some pretty big games. I'll say this. Since Shane Beamer got there, i think the program's changed tremendously. Nothing towards (Will) Muschamp), but when he was there the program had no camaraderie. Everybody was kind of scattered for themselves. There was nothing built. There was no foundation. There was nothing in stone. When he was there the program was kind of falling apart, and when Beamer stepped in (for Murphy's third year there) they had a roll and it kind of changed."
On realizing program has problems the second he got there:
"Oh, a 100 percent. That's the biggest thing in college football,. When you are in high school there are so many things you don't see until you step on campus and you peel some more layers back. I went there and I played my three years and I tried to do the best I could there and after my third year I realized it was time for a change and I was over being there and I just moved on."
On ending up at Western Kentucky:
"In the portal my first time around I was in between Western Kentucky and Nebraska. Nebraska didn't give me an offer, but coach (Donovan) Raiola was the offensive line coach and we were very close and were talking back and forth. I was kind of waiting on them to see what they were doing and what they were bringing back, and at the end of the day I knew Western Kentucky was losing a guard named Boe Wilson, who actually played at Nebraska, great player. They lost him and I was like this is a perfect situation to go in and play guard, and the following year I knew the center, Rusty (Staats, who transferred to Texas Tech) was saying he probably wasn't going to come back. I knew he was going, so I knew it would be a perfect transition to go play guard for a year and then go to center and see if I wanted to declare (for the draft), come back there for a year or move on to somewhere else. That's kind of how the whole transition happened."
On college football playoff spot as incentive at Tulane:
"As a group we know that's reachable. We know that's achievable. But one thing we try to assure with each other is we don't lose focus on what we have now. If we sit here and talk about the playoffs all season, then we're not where our feet are. If we start looking far ahead, we're not focused and we start losing attention to details, and that's how you lose. For us to make it to that point, we have a lot of things to accomplish. The season's very long, about 14 weeks including the two bye weeks, so we have a lot to do in that amount of time to make it to that point and let alone we have to win a championship. That's the biggest team goal. I know the playoffs is a big talk, but the group of guys we have here, all the seniors, we want to go win a championship. That's the one thing on our plate we want to accomplish."
On filling shoes of Sincere Haynesworth:
"I had a chance to talk to Sincere when he was going through the process of the draft and stuff and getting picked up by the Saints. Sincere's a great person. He was a great leader while he was here. I always ask the guys that were in that room with him, what did Sincere do? What was effective? What were some of the things you liked about him as a leader? I don't try to copy Sincere. I don't really try to be a leader. I try to be as supportive and as the oldest guy in the room try to navigate guys the best I can. Sincere was a great leader. I wasn't here to play with it, but it's been a great transition for me to come here and fill that spot."
On his biggest strengths:
"My I.Q. for sure. I study the game a lot. My first three years at South Carolina, as much as I look back on that and wish that I would have played more, in my first year I had a player named Donell Stanley, who was a fifth-year center, and I had the privilege to watch him as an older guy and watch how he looked at the game and how his I.Q. was huge. He was very smart. Another strength of mine is maybe the pass game. I think I can anchor OK. Pass blocking is probably my huge thing, especially since in the Air Raid (at Western Kentucky) that's all we did. If I could put a percentage on it, I think we threw the ball 80 percent of the time at Western Kentucky (it was actually 63 percent factoring in sacks as pass plays). I'm not really big on what I can and can't do. I just like to play."
This is the first half of a 17-minute interview. I will post the second half later.
On how the newcomers since the end of spring and all of the newcomers like him who participated in spring drills have meshed with the rest of the team:
"That's a great question. I think I've been accepted well. With the new coaching staff, we've also retained a lot of guys from last year, and the group of guys from last year were very welcoming. They understood what I wanted to achieve is what they wanted to achieve, and that's a championship. They came up short last year, and one of our main goals this year is to achieve it. All the guys that we brought in and all the guys that are here now have the same goal and same idea in mind, and that's to win a championship. The camaraderie, the get-along-with-everybody is great. Everyone's on the same page."
On being picked third in AAC:
"I'm not a big social media guy with all that stuff. It doesn't matter to me. We start Aug. 29 with a 7 o'clock kickoff, and when that ball's kicked off, that's when the season starts. I think that (the prediction) is going to change. I know we're set No. 3, but I think that's going to change real quick."
On why left Western Kentucky for Tulane:
"I wanted a place that wanted to win. I wanted to play with a group of guys that had the same idea as me, that weren't one foot in and one foot out. I was ready for something new, a new offense. I was playing for (Western Kentucky coach) Tyson Helton, a big area guy who loves throwing the ball. I wanted an offense that showcased a lot in the run game, too, and a lot in the pass as well, but it was a big factor in me coming here. I played coach Sumrall (at Troy) the past two years (even though Western Kentucky is in Conference USA) and both were losses, but I understood what his objective was. He's been very successful in the Sun Belt conference, and that was very appealing. He's going to be very successful here and I think we're going to have a great team this year."
On being from winning high school program at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas that won state championships in his first two years and lost to eventual winner in next two:
"Junior year we came short. We played Venice at Venice and lost a close game. Then we made the state championship my senior year and played Lakeland, a powerhouse program, and it was a big win for them. it was back-to-back my first two and lost the last two. The kids that go to St. Thomas, winning is in their DNA. We want to win. We want to go out there and dominate. When you go to St. Thomas, you hve the legacy of all the guys that have been drafted and put in the league and what that school has helped guys do getting college scholarships. My class that i was there with, we had a big thing that we wanted to go win a championship, we didn't like losing, so when I went to college at South Carolina, my first year we went like 4-8 (correct). It was weird. I was on a team where some guys were just cool with it because they were playing and accepted it. I was in an awkward state. I was like this is not normal for me. I wasn't happy to be around it."
On his entire South Carolina experience (played 1 game in first year, 2 in second year and 8 in final year):
"My third year was the most I ever played. I played in some pretty big games. I'll say this. Since Shane Beamer got there, i think the program's changed tremendously. Nothing towards (Will) Muschamp), but when he was there the program had no camaraderie. Everybody was kind of scattered for themselves. There was nothing built. There was no foundation. There was nothing in stone. When he was there the program was kind of falling apart, and when Beamer stepped in (for Murphy's third year there) they had a roll and it kind of changed."
On realizing program has problems the second he got there:
"Oh, a 100 percent. That's the biggest thing in college football,. When you are in high school there are so many things you don't see until you step on campus and you peel some more layers back. I went there and I played my three years and I tried to do the best I could there and after my third year I realized it was time for a change and I was over being there and I just moved on."
On ending up at Western Kentucky:
"In the portal my first time around I was in between Western Kentucky and Nebraska. Nebraska didn't give me an offer, but coach (Donovan) Raiola was the offensive line coach and we were very close and were talking back and forth. I was kind of waiting on them to see what they were doing and what they were bringing back, and at the end of the day I knew Western Kentucky was losing a guard named Boe Wilson, who actually played at Nebraska, great player. They lost him and I was like this is a perfect situation to go in and play guard, and the following year I knew the center, Rusty (Staats, who transferred to Texas Tech) was saying he probably wasn't going to come back. I knew he was going, so I knew it would be a perfect transition to go play guard for a year and then go to center and see if I wanted to declare (for the draft), come back there for a year or move on to somewhere else. That's kind of how the whole transition happened."
On college football playoff spot as incentive at Tulane:
"As a group we know that's reachable. We know that's achievable. But one thing we try to assure with each other is we don't lose focus on what we have now. If we sit here and talk about the playoffs all season, then we're not where our feet are. If we start looking far ahead, we're not focused and we start losing attention to details, and that's how you lose. For us to make it to that point, we have a lot of things to accomplish. The season's very long, about 14 weeks including the two bye weeks, so we have a lot to do in that amount of time to make it to that point and let alone we have to win a championship. That's the biggest team goal. I know the playoffs is a big talk, but the group of guys we have here, all the seniors, we want to go win a championship. That's the one thing on our plate we want to accomplish."
On filling shoes of Sincere Haynesworth:
"I had a chance to talk to Sincere when he was going through the process of the draft and stuff and getting picked up by the Saints. Sincere's a great person. He was a great leader while he was here. I always ask the guys that were in that room with him, what did Sincere do? What was effective? What were some of the things you liked about him as a leader? I don't try to copy Sincere. I don't really try to be a leader. I try to be as supportive and as the oldest guy in the room try to navigate guys the best I can. Sincere was a great leader. I wasn't here to play with it, but it's been a great transition for me to come here and fill that spot."
On his biggest strengths:
"My I.Q. for sure. I study the game a lot. My first three years at South Carolina, as much as I look back on that and wish that I would have played more, in my first year I had a player named Donell Stanley, who was a fifth-year center, and I had the privilege to watch him as an older guy and watch how he looked at the game and how his I.Q. was huge. He was very smart. Another strength of mine is maybe the pass game. I think I can anchor OK. Pass blocking is probably my huge thing, especially since in the Air Raid (at Western Kentucky) that's all we did. If I could put a percentage on it, I think we threw the ball 80 percent of the time at Western Kentucky (it was actually 63 percent factoring in sacks as pass plays). I'm not really big on what I can and can't do. I just like to play."
