FSU football: Alabama LB transfer Shawn Murphy commits to the Seminoles

FSU football has been on fire in the transfer portal with its acquisitions. The Seminoles have benefitted greatly from the Alabama Crimson Tide having legendary head football coach Nick Saban retire this offseason. This has allowed many of their players to enter the transfer portal.

You might as well call Florida State an Alabama pipeline at this point. The Seminoles have already signed four players from the Crimson Tide in a couple of weeks with running back Roydell Williams, wide receiver Malik Benson, interior offensive lineman Terrence "TJ" Ferguson II, and cornerback Earl Little Jr.

On Monday night, you can add another transfer to the list as Florida State lands redshirt freshman linebacker Shawn Murphy.

Murphy was a former four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting cycle. He played sparingly for the Crimson Tide where he was primarily featured on special teams and mop-up defensive duty. As it stands, the Virginia native will have three years of eligibility remaining.

The news broke this morning that Murphy would be visiting campus. This sparked the interest of the fanbase since linebacker is a position that is heavily discussed. The Seminoles needed to secure more depth in that room since redshirt seniors Tatum Bethune and Kalen DeLoach exceeded their eligibility after the 2023 season.

Luckily, Florida State was able to get redshirt junior DJ Lundy to de-commit from Colorado and return to the Seminoles in 2024 for his senior season. However, the position itself still had question marks considering that unproven players such Omar Graham Jr., Blake Nichelson, and Justin Cryer would likely be stepping into expanded roles next season.

While Murphy does not necessarily fix that issue, he is a talented option with multiple years of eligibility that linebackers coach Randy Shannon and the rest of the coaching staff can develop. The hope is to now add one more linebacker (preferably a veteran with collegiate experience) before the season begins.