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Former Alabama, Florida State transfer Shawn Murphy says South Carolina's workout experience is 'one-of-one'

by: Kevin Miller03/08/25kevinbmiller52
South Carolina linebacker Shawn Murphy. Photo by: Katie Dugan | GamecockCentral
South Carolina linebacker Shawn Murphy. Photo by: Katie Dugan | GamecockCentral

Before arriving in Columbia, South Carolina football transfer portal linebacker addition Shawn Murphy spent three total seasons elsewhere. For two years, he was part of the Alabama Crimson Tide program. Then, he played the 2024 season with the Florida State Seminoles. Still, according to the class of 2022 top-100 prospect, his first offseason with the Gamecocks has been the best workout experience of his career.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday (along with the rest of the new portal additions), Murphy called his time in the USC weight room “definitely one-of-one.” He continued, “I’ve never done stuff like this before, and it’s definitely changing my body in different ways. I’m working stuff that I’ve never worked before. It’s different, very different.”

The unique experience has been challenging for Murphy, but he argues that it is better this way. “In the weight room, there’s a lot of stuff that’s going to challenge you, make you stronger, and make you better–[more so] than at other programs.”

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Murphy didn’t only have positive things to say about Luke Day’s strength and conditioning program, however. In fact, the entire South Carolina football program drew rave reviews. Said Murphy, “Just the culture, the people, players, everything that has to do with this program. There’s a lot of stuff that this program has that nobody really talks about, but I’m experiencing. I’m loving it. I think everything is about ‘best fit,’ and I think this program is the ‘best fit’ for me.”

Murphy told GamecockCentral earlier this offseason that he had two main requirements for a school to earn his transfer portal commitment: a proven model of development for linebackers and a strong culture.

This year, South Carolina has three linebackers with NFL Draft hopes (Demetrius Knight is a draft lock, and Bam Martin-Scott and Debo Williams could hear their names called in the later rounds), and none of them were blue-chip recruits out of high school. Like Murphy, all three also began their college football journeys at other schools.

The redshirt junior said on Wednesday that his experience in Columbia has backed up Shane Beamer’s recruiting pitch on culture. “Just talking with everybody, seeing their mindsets, how they run the program, the culture of the program…how they take care of their players. I know Jakai Moore–I played against him in high school, my freshman year of high school–and he’s been here for a long time. Just to see him still here through it all, that means a lot.”

Like Moore, Murphy has dealt with injuries during his college football career. The two Virginia natives have had football taken away from them on several occasions. It makes sense that Moore’s experience in Columbia would be impactful on Murphy.

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