Story by Nigel Walton
Contributing writer
Murray State football’s coaching staff has been hard at work since the 2018 season ended last November, compiling a class of four transfer talents poised to make an impact next season.
Head Coach Mitch Stewart and company have landed three transfers from FBS programs and one junior college transfer. The Racers lost 15 seniors due to graduation and six players to the transfer pool, so Stewart looks to replace and improve lost talent this 2019 recruiting season.
The Racers went for size as they acquired 6-foot-2-inch, 235 pound Tay Carothers from Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi. He is an inside linebacker who Stewart describes as a heavy hitter.
“He’s a phenomenal person,” Stewart said. “He’s a guy that on his visit, when you talk about no entitlement and very grateful, everytime I heard him talk to somebody he was very appreciative of the opportunity. He understands that not a lot of people, especially where he comes from, have the opportunity to be a college athlete, much less a college graduate.”
Last season at Itawamba Carothers recorded 57 tackles (34 solo) and 2.5 sacks.
After linebacker Quincy Williams graduated last semester, Stewart said his team was in need of players to replace his production. Alec Long, a transfer from the University of Memphis, fits that profile. Stewart hopes Long can fill the void that losing the OVC’s leader in solo tackles creates.
“He’s very similar to Quincy in that he’s a see ball, hit ball type of guy,” Stewart said. “You can put him out on the edge. He’s very quick; has a lot of burst; very explosive player. He has a lot of contact courage. He’s a heavy-hitter type guy. He’s a guy that’ll bend your facemask. He’s a ball-player kind of guy.”
Terrance Corbett, from the University of Troy, is the brother of Sylvaughn Turner, who plays wide receiver for the Racers. He was a highly recruited four-star defensive end.
“Very long, very rangy; he is a quarterback type guy, he’s a pass rush type guy; very wiry. When you look at him I think he’s 6-foot-4-inch, 215 pounds, so he’s not real heavy but he plays that kind of hybrid position for us; defensive end, linebacker, drop him out in space, but his number one goal will be to get to the passer.
Corbett earned All-Huntsville Region honors in high school after totaling 76 tackles (52 solo) with 12 sacks and 17 tackles for loss his senior season at East Limestone High School. Among Alabama high school football players, he was ranked in the Top-75. He spent three years at Troy after redshirting his freshman year, playing in 10 total games during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
With senior Malik Honeycutt emerging as a star studded wide receiver for the Racers, Murray State is hoping to find another weapon to feature alongside him in DaQuon Green. From the University of Florida, Green stands at 6-foot-2-inch and 200 pounds. He is a long wide receiver with a big wingspan who has the ability to win jump balls.
“He can take the top off of a defense,” Stewart said. “He has a lot of vertical presence when he is running vertical routes. He gets in and out of his breaks extremely well for a bigger guy.”
These four transfers will play an instrumental role for the Racers going forward as they continue their ascent in the OVC following a 5-3 year last season.. These transfers are only the beginning of the 2019 recruiting season as Murray State will add to the stables during National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 6.
