Texas Forced To Pony Up NIL Money For Backup QB Maalik Murphy After Schools Tried To Poach Four-Star Through Portal

Maalik Murphy is slated to serve as the backup quarterback at Texas this fall. He will be listed behind Quinn Ewers on the depth chart, barring unforeseen changes over the next four months.

Murphy seems to be content in his current role, considering he reportedly turned down multiple offers to leave. The Longhorns' NIL package also may have helped keep him in Austin.

Maalik Murphy got a bag. (Photos by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, Murphy was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2022 and committed to play for Steve Sarkisian in Austin more than a year before signing. Texas was ultimately able to hold off pushes from multiple SEC and Big Ten programs to land the No. 9-ranked quarterback in his class.

That was the case again this spring.

Texas was forced to re-recruit Maalik Murphy.

According to Chris Hummer of 247 Sports, Murphy had multiple SEC programs and at least one Pac-12 and Big Ten program reach out to his camp to see if he would be interested in transferring. Arch Manning arrived on campus with a lot of hype, Ewers was the five-star incumbent, and teams in need of a starting quarterback wondered if Murphy might want to seek a new opportunity.

He didn't. Murphy loves the program, loves to compete, loves the school, and loves the coaching staff.

The Longhorns also sweetened the deal by "securing him an NIL package," per Hummer.

If Texas had to get Murphy paid as part of the process to keep him on the roster, interested suitors likely reached out with NIL offers of their own. History shows that foul play and tampering are common place in college football. It always has been.

However, with the Name, Image and Likeness wrinkle, money is a larger talking point. Collectives across the country try to poach players who are enrolled at other programs on a frequent basis.

That may or may not have been what went down with Murphy. It's unclear as to who reached out to kick the tires about a potential transfer, and it is unclear whether money was part of those conversations. Considering how things work in the modern era, it's hard to imagine that financial compensation through NIL opportunities were not brought up in some capacity.

In the end, though, Texas ponied up and kept Murphy at Texas.