Murchison's Journey From JUCO an NFL Rarity

Titans' fifth-round pick was one of 12 selections in the 2020 NFL Draft who played junior college football

NASHVILLE – Larrell Murchison never got too far from home over the past four years.

Yet he took the long way to the NFL.

Of the six players the Tennessee Titans selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, Murchison is the only one whose experience includes a stop in junior college. The fifth-round choice, a defensive tackle, spent two years at Louisburg (N.C.) College before he transferred to North Carolina State, where he played the last two.

As anyone who has seen the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U knows, the decision – or the need – to play junior college football can derail NFL dreams in a variety of ways.

“I took it one step at a time,” Murchison said when he was drafted. “So, you know, even when I was at JUCO and even when I first got to [North Carolina] State, I always just knew that if I took it one day at a time and don’t second guess myself, I could be here one day.”

There were 255 players selected in the 2020 NFL Draft. Only 12 – 4.7 percent – spent time in junior college.

One was a first-round pick, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw who went No. 14 overall to San Francisco, while more than half (seven, to be exact), including Murchison (No. 174 overall), were Day Three selections. Seattle and Philadelphia took two each, which means that just 10 of 32 teams chose players with a JUCO background.

In the last four years no more than 15 junior college players have been picked in any single NFL draft and only one school, Garden City (Kan.) Community College, has had a former player selected each of the last three years.

Murchison never was more than a short drive from home throughout college. Louisburg is 134 miles north of Murchison’s hometown of Elizabethtown, N.C. and North Carolina State is 47 miles southeast of Louisburg, 102 miles north of Elizabethtown.

Yet it was his time in JUCO that ultimately set him on the path to the NFL.

“In high school I was a fullback,” he said. “In JUCO, I chose defensive line to play. It took a little while that first season during camp to learn my different ways, to learn different techniques of it, but I got it all down pat after a while.”

Two years ago, then-Louisburg coach Trevor Highfield dubbed his program ‘Best Chance U’ in response to the stigma created by the popular Netflix show about the overall junior college experience.

In Murchison’s second season there, Louisburg went 9-0. Well-acquainted with his new position, he made 41 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks and was ranked the country’s No. 42 overall JUCO prospect.

Then at N.C. State he became a second-team all-conference player and one ranked among the top 10 in sacks last season. He also became recognized as an NFL prospect.

Some notable junior college products who have become stars in the professional ranks in recent years include quarterback Aaron Rodgers, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, linebacker Lavonte David and running back Alvin Kamara.

Now, Murchison has the opportunity to follow in their footsteps.

"Larrell is an excellent example of how working hard in the classroom and on the game field can pay off,” current Louisburg coach Chris Tolbert, an assistant during Murchison’s two years there, said. “He does everything the right way, and we could not be more proud of this young man. He's a great ambassador for Louisburg College and our football program."