Kyler Murray signs with Oklahoma Sooners

Kyler Murray has found a new home in Norman with the University of Oklahoma.

The Kyler Murray sweepstakes are over as the University of Oklahoma announced Christmas Eve that Murray will transfer from Texas A&M University to play for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Murray was a five-star quarterback coming out of high school in the 2015 recruiting class out of Allen High School in Bedford, Texas. He played in eight games for the Aggies during his freshman year in 2015, completing 59.5% of his passes for 686 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. The dual-threat passer also ran 335 yards of 53 attempts and scored one touchdown.

Murray joined fellow former five-star quarterback at Texas A&M, Kyle Allen, in requesting a transfer from Kevin Sumlin’s SEC program in College Station. Losing both elite recruits in a matter of weeks, along with the transfers of other Aggies quarterbacks Matt Joeckel and Kenny Hill, has not been a good look for the program: Sumlin can recruit talent, but he cannot retain it.

By going to Oklahoma, Murray will have to sit out 2016, but will have three years of eligibility to play on Fall Saturdays for the Sooners. Under head coach Bob Stoops, Oklahoma has been the only Air Raid offense that routinely contends for national championships. That has to do with Stoops being a defensive-minded coach that happens to run a prolific offense, all while using a bevy of backs in the running game.

Murray won’t be able to contend for a starting gig with the Sooners until 2017, but him joining Oklahoma gives the Sooners a suitable replacement for when Baker Mayfield’s (a transfer from Texas Tech, himself) eligibility runs out. Murray was not allowed to transfer in the SEC, so he found a suitable and nearby replacement at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.