Sting Factor: Three-star Byron Murphy decommits from Baylor
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
MORE: Texas scoops up Murphy
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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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THE SITUATION
Byron Murphy de-committed from Baylor on Wednesday, a major loss for the Bears and first-year coach Dave Aranda as he’s trying to put together his first complete recruiting class.
Things got worse for Baylor about an hour later when the three-star defensive tackle from DeSoto, Tex., made his pledge to Texas.
The Longhorns’ coaching staff has stepped it up with Murphy recently and once Texas offered, Murphy made a quick decision to flip his commitment to another Big 12 school.
Although he’s a tad undersized to be a traditional defensive tackle, Murphy was a major piece to Baylor’s rebuilding efforts and he not only decommitted but flipped to a conference rival. Texas has the second-best class in the Big 12 while Baylor is at No. 6.
LOCAL REACTION
There was word that Murphy could be looking elsewhere. And when he made it official on Wednesday, it is a devastating blow to Baylor. He was the highest-rated DL in the 2021 class and someone a front could build its future around. Unfortunately, Baylor's 1-5 start likely played a role in this. This was the one defensive recruit that Baylor could not afford to lose. It's going to be hard to find someone like him with the recruiting season getting later. - Kevin Lonnquist, SicEmSports.com
Sting Factor: 9
NATIONAL REACTION
“This one hurts Aranda’s recruiting efforts in a huge way. This was a coveted defender and highly ranked kid who believed in the new coaches at Baylor and then flipped for the bigger offer. There is no way to replace him with equal value in the 2021 class and this will hurt in-state recruiting efforts from an optics point of view.” — Mike Farrell, Rivals.com National Football Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 10