UConn Football: Michael Tarbutt, Kevin Murphy And Tyler Davis To Transfer

After the worst season in the history of UConn football at the FBS level, there’s been some shakeups with the Huskies’ roster. The first two dominos to fall are kicker Michael Tarbutt and defensive lineman Kevin Murphy, who have announced they will transfer to another school for their final season of college football.

Neither announce is a huge surprise, as Tarbutt and Murphy were two of nine redshirt juniors honored before the Huskies’ final game of the season against Temple, signaling they had intentions of not coming back to UConn next fall.

Tarbutt was the first to announce, signaling his intent to transfer on Twitter on Nov. 25.

While Tarbutt had some high-profile misses, he was still a dependable option for UConn, going 17-27 on field goals and 54-57 on PATs over three seasons. He hit a career-long 50 yard field goal twice in his time at Storrs — once at Fenway Park against Boston College in 2017 and against Tulsa this season. His power should help him land somewhere soon.

Murphy announced his decision one day later, also via Twitter.

Murphy was a 3-star recruit out of high school and recorded 11 tackles in eight games this season. The 6-foot-1 West Chester, Pennsylvania native will likely make a decision on where he ends up in the next few weeks.

The other seven redshirt juniors honored this past Saturday — quarterback Brandon Bisack, tight end Zordan Holman and linemen Phillippe Okounam, Connor Freeborn, Brian Cespedes and Harrison Newman — will likely make similar announcements in the upcoming weeks. Assuming they look to continue to play college football elsewhere, they’ll have one year of eligibility remaining.

UPDATE: Tyler Davis, who came to UConn as a quarterback under Bob Diaco before switching to wide receiver and then tight end, announced on Twitter Friday that he will transfer for his final season of eligibility.

Davis arguably is the most impactful player to leave the Edsall and the Huskies so far, catching 22 passes for 286 yards this season, including a team-high six touchdowns. Davis’ departure and the loss of David Pindell to graduation create a big hole for Edsall and offensive coordinator John Dunn to try and fix before the 2019 season rolls around.