Yikes.
When news came out after Week 4 that Houston’s star QB, D’Eriq King, was going to redshirt, along with their top WR, it obviously had people confused. UH fans thought D’Eriq King gave up on the team. The conspiracy theorist, including myself, said this was King’s plan to be able transfer to UT, A&M or even OU. Because why would a senior, who has played well this year all the sudden voluntarily sit out?
Well, it turns out this is why. Holgorsen convinced King along with other top players to use their redshirt in order to preserve eligibility for next season.
Quite the move by Holgorsen. Can you blame him though? It’s his first year at UH and he‘s trying to build something in Houston. The writing was on the wall after going 1-4 that the season was sure to be a bust. Holgorsen knew while he had talent at QB and other key positions, there were still a lot of holes to fill on the roster. By preserving those key roles with redshirts, it allows him the opportunity to recruit and bring in “his guys” this summer, setting up Houston to be successful next season. Which also helps Holgorsen keep his job and continue to make millions of dollars coaching football.
On the flip side, if you are a senior like Justin Murphy, who is not playing for money or even a chance in the NFL, who has worked your ass off the past three years, all off-season, training camp, etc, you would be fucking livid. That a coach who spends every day preaching about team work and a never give up mentality, just throws in the towel so he can have a better chance next year. That’s definitely tough.
At the end of the day, you may disagree with how Holgorsen went about this but it was all within the rules. The NCAA has allowed for redshirts after four games and Holgorsen is clearly using those rules to his advantage.
[…] then led to Houston offensive lineman, Justin Murphy, going on a twitter rant blasting Coach Holgorsen for convincing King along with other top players to use their redshirt in order to preserve […]
[…] led to Houston offensive lineman, Justin Murphy, going on a twitter rant blasting Coach Holgorsen for convincing King along with other top players to use their redshirt in order to preserve […]