The redshirt phenomenon is becoming the norm in college football these days. More and more often, head coaches are storing as much talent as they can in order to space out the graduation of their best athletes. Many players who cannot start or play a significant backup role as true freshmen usually find themselves redshirting in order to have an extra year of eligibility.

However, it is often overlooked how difficult it can be mentally for these stud athletes to come out of high school as stars and ride the pine for an entire year. Basically, there are two ways for young athletes to handle a redshirt year. One way happens more often than one might think. That is, the player cannot handle the daily grind of college football without any of the glory of running out onto the field. A lot of talent in many programs is wasted every year when kids cannot overcome the mental hardships of taking a back seat after being a star for so long. There is another possibility, though; and for this, we must look at a player who currently resides in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Our Lady of Good Counsel alum Bryan Murray finds himself in the middle of a redshirt season at Boston College. This 6-foot-2, 290-pound defensive tackle is taking the right approach to his year of learning and adjusting to college life. Every day, he says, he is getting a little more comfortable at Boston College, both on and off the field. But let me start from the beginning.

Murray, a polite, soft-spoken young man, was always one of the best players on the field in high school. As a senior at Good Counsel, he earned Maryland Consensus All-State honors as well as Washington Post All-Met second-team accolades. Also starring on the wrestling mats, he was named Good Counsel’s Male Athlete of the Year. Despite the impressive resumé, Murray did not have an abundance of big-time programs banging down his door to recruit him. The University of Maryland and Boston College were the two main schools vying for his services, and in the end it was BC.

“I received my offer from Boston College on my unofficial visit when I came up for a basketball game,” Murray remembered. “I liked the football program and the academics. It helped, too, that there were a good amount of Good Counsel alumni that either went to [Boston College] or somewhere else in the Boston area.”

When Murray set foot at the Heights, however, he was stepping behind two potential All-American candidates in B.J. Raji and Ron Brace at the defensive tackle position.

“I had a pretty good idea I was going to redshirt because of the depth at [defensive] tackle,” Murray said. “But it has been a good experience. There has been less pressure and time to adjust to the speed of the game. Everyone is a great athlete at this level. They are stronger and faster, and it’s just a different mentality than in high school.”

Murray is not new to having stars playing with or ahead of him, however. He likened his experience so far at Boston College to those he had in high school, playing with the likes of Akeem Hebron (University of Georgia), Drew Gloster (University of Maryland) and Nick Jenkins (University of Virginia). Still, there are obvious adjustments to playing in college.

“It has been a lot like high school, playing with those guys. Academically, there is more work than in high school, but I was ready for that. Good Counsel prepared me very well, and BC has a lot of good resources for athletes. Now that I am on my own up at school, I can focus just on myself.”

Murray is one of those guys you just have to believe will be successful, whether it be on the gridiron or otherwise. He has a great attitude and is not afraid of working hard. His opportunity will certainly come very soon at Boston College, as well. With Raji and Brace, who will both likely be first-day draft picks, graduating after this season, the defensive tackle position at BC won’t be so crowded.

“In the next couple years, I just want to always be progressing. I think it is my spot to lose. I control my own destiny,” said Murray.

On Recruits

With Louis Young’s recent commitment to Stanford, there are currently two players on the Falcons roster who could possibly end up at Boston College after high school. One, of course, is Jelani Jenkins, the No. 4 overall and No. 1 outside linebacker recruit on Rivals.com. The other is junior linebacker Troy Gloster, whose brother Drew is currently playing for Ralph Friedgen at the University of Maryland. I asked Bryan if he had talked to either of the guys about coming to BC.

“I talked to Jelani, but I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to Troy yet," said Murray. I told him that he has to go wherever he feels comfortable. As long as you like the coaches and the program, you can’t really go wrong. It would be fun for him to come up [to Boston College] though. We would already have a lot of chemistry. Both of them would fit in really well.”

When asked about BC, Gloster had this to say: “I was very excited after I got the offer, and after seeing what my brother went through during his recruiting process, it made me feel very good getting my offer. I heard the school was very good academically, and the team is playing well, they are young, but playing well. I have not talked to Bryan Murray yet, but I plan on doing that soon to get a better feel for what BC has to offer.”

Jenkins, a senior this year, will be making his decision in the coming months. Boston College is in his final 15 choices but is considered somewhat of a long-shot. Gloster, a junior right now, has more time before he has to choose where he will be playing his college ball.