While UConn suffered a tough defeat against Army on Saturday, the gameday at Yankee Stadium offered a unique experience for a couple of commitments, including Kevin Murphy. UConnReport.com spoke with Murphy to get his thoughts on the game, the season and the end of his high school career.

Murphy, 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds, attended the game with his father, brother and a few of their friends.

"The game was absolutely amazing. Every part of it," said Murphy. "First of all, the cadets were all dressed up in their uniforms and the Army had three soldiers parachute in. Then, I realized that I'm standing in Yankee Stadium which is one of the greatest venues in the world. Just thinking about all of the great Yankee players that came through the program gave me the chills. The game itself was a well fought game on both sides. The triple option is a very tough offense to stop, I can tell you that first hand. It doesn't help UConn that Army ran it with few to no mistakes. But UConn never gave up and fought back in the end and that was great to see. Say what you want about UConn, but those kids are fighters."

During the game, Murphy was able to sit with another UConn commit.

"Yes, my family, Bill, and his father all sat with Connor Freeborn and his father for the whole second half," he said. "What great people they are. One of the great things Coach Diaco has done for the program already is not only recruit good football players, but good kids with great families."

Since his commitment, Murphy has continued to maintain close ties with the UConn coaching staff.

"We speak two or three times a week," he said. "I call them all the time just to see what's going on and wish them luck for the upcoming games. I speak with Coach Reardon the most. He has been my recruiting coach throughout the process. He has a very very close relationship with my family and I. He, along with the rest of the coaches, are really stand up guys. I call now and again and catch him at meetings and he puts me on with the whole defensive staff and sometimes Coach Diaco if he isn't too busy."

UConn has experienced some obvious difficulties on the field this season. Murphy shared his thoughts on what he has seen.

"I understand that Coach is playing a lot of young guys such as Ron Johnson, Luke Carrezola, and Vontae Diggs," he said. "These guys are all getting valuable field experience for the years to come. It is also Coach Diaco's first year and he is going to bring this program back the right way. It's not going to take two weeks to turn UConn back into the prestigious program of the past. It will take hard work, effort, and great leaders. And as of this year, he is building leaders out of the young guys he is playing right now. We all believe in him, the ability of his staff and program to be successful. I know my recruiting class is ready to go to war for Coach Diaco for sure and do whatever it takes be successful for our school, coaches, fans, and state."

On the field this fall, Murphy has already seen his senior season come to an end.

"We finished up 5-6," he said. "Our program is coming off of a 6-5 season last year. The years before that we would only win two games a year, so I've been through a program that needed to rebuild and I know what the process looks like. This year, I was very pleased with myself. I finished up with 4.5 sacks and 18 tackles for a loss at nose. That was a new position for me coming from defensive end last year. I rotated all over the defense line and offensive line as well. Unfortunately our senior center hurt himself early in the year so I moved from tackle to center and had a great season there as well. I did what my team needed me to do and I took on the challenge. I see myself as a tool shed guy that can play wherever a coach needs me. On defense, I really took on the role as not only a strong pass rusher but a run stuffer as well. I'm excited to get back in the weight room and keep this momentum going for next year at UConn."

Now that his high school career is complete, Murphy shared his thoughts on knowing that those days are now behind him.

"It is sad but once one door closes another one opens," he said. "I am proud of how my high school career went but now it's time to prepare for my college career. New goals in mind and it's time to achieve them."

Part of that preparation process has been getting to know some of the other UConn commits.

"It's been amazing, absolutely amazing," he said. "We have a commit group chat that we all talk in together every day. I feel like I've know these guys forever now. I'm so excited to get up there and hang out for our officials."

And when will these official visits be?

"The coaches want it January 23-24, so I'm pretty sure that's going to be it," he said.

UConnReport.com will check back with Murphy after his official visit to see how his UConn experience went.

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