Jim Harbaugh once played chess and drank milk with now-recruit
We doubt Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin had any idea they could have been recruiting for many years into the future when they stopped by the Murphy household on a recruiting trip for Stanford.
Yes, this is another random Jim Harbaugh story.
While the two were coaching the Cardinal they were recruiting Trent Murphy, a defensive end in the class of 2009. When they stopped by the Murphy household for a visit, Trent’s parents weren’t there. They were at the hospital as Laurie Murphy was pregnant with their seventh child and was having labor pains.
“It was either go home, get ready for Jim Harbaugh or get my wife to the hospital,” Jerry Murphy told Sports 360. “Well my wife’s going to win. We went to the hospital. We thought it was going to be a routine visit, just go there and leave … by the time we left, we were at the hospital for a good five hours.”
Connor Murphy, now a three-star defensive end in the class of 2016, was home while his parents were at the hospital. Instead of stopping by another time, Harbaugh and Durkin waited until the Murphy parents got home from the hospital.
“Not many people can say they sat down on the living room floor with Jim Harbaugh and DJ Durkin and just played chess and drank milk with them,” Connor Murphy said.
Jerry said that they met with Harbaugh and Durkin for about five minutes after they got home from the hospital. Trent Murphy went on to play for Stanford and is currently with the Washington Redskins.
Connor now has a scholarship offer from Michigan, and Harbaugh is recruiting a Murphy once again. Connor hasn’t reached a decision yet on where he wants to go, and no mention of an in-home visit was made in the video. If there is one in the future, we really hope the Murphys have a chess board and milk ready. The visit can’t be hosted any other way.
For more Michigan news, visit TheWolverine.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
