Tim Murphy just retired at Harvard, compiling a 200-89 record at the school and wrapping up 45 years of coaching at various levels of college football. He readily acknowledges the opportunities to earn a degree at Harvard but also the ability to prepare football players for the next step.

Harvard has produced grad transfers, sending all-Ivy League prospects on to finish their college careers at SEC, ACC and Big Ten schools as well as Notre Dame in recent years. This includes grad transfer Jacob Rizy, who earned a pair of degrees this spring and is now at Florida State.

“He's a legitimate major college athlete, body type and football player,” Murphy told the Osceola. “He's also such a bright kid that he can play multiple positions. What makes him special are his intangibles. He's tough, he's physical, he's a great leader and teammate, and he's always that guy that comes to practice and workouts with an infectious smile. Plays through pain when he's banged up. His teammates will love this kid because of all of those things.

“He should be playing at this very high level of college football, but I think it's intangibles that make him special.”

Rizy played in 22 games, starting 20, in his three seasons at Harvard (the 2020 Ivy League season was cancelled due to COVID). He was a two-time All-Ivy League selection, including a first-team pick in 2023 as the Crimson went 8-2.

Florida State volleyball Head Coach Chris Poole announced the signing of three players for the upcoming 2024 season. Iane Henke, Caylan Russ and Johanna Sova will now mark five new players for a program that is hoping to build off the 2023 ACC Championship.

"We are fortunate to add three additional players this summer to give us the depth needed for a long season. All three of these young ladies have played for good volleyball programs and will bring good experience to our team," Head Coach Chris Poole said.

Iane Henke - 6-3 - Outside Hitter - Ulm, Germany - Anna Essinger Gymnasium Ulm - Cal State LA
Iane Henke looks to be a great addition to a squad that already returns its top two hitters from last year's ACC Championship team. Henke is a transfer from Cal State LA who won their first Division II National Championship this past fall. Henke shined the brightest when the lights were on as she recorded a career-high 21 kills in the National Championship Game against West Texas A&M. This season, Henke tallied 407 kills while starting all 34 matches for the Golden Eagles. Henke was a great all-around player as she led the team with 405 digs and also recorded 64.0 blocks to earn her First Team All-CCAA honors for the second consecutive season. Henke was also named to the AVCA All-America Honorable Mention. In 2022, Henke became the first player in Cal State LA history to win National Freshman of the Year honors. Henke also had great success off the court as she became just the third player in Cal State LA history to earn CSC All-America honors in 2023. Iane is the daughter of Tatjana Oravec and Stefan Henke. She hast two brothers, Jaro and Niko. Iane plans on majoring in psychology at Florida State.

From Coach Poole: "Iane played at a high level in Germany and is a very physical player. After spending two years at a Division II university, she was looking for an opportunity to play at the highest level. At 6-3, she is a great all-around player and has the skills to help us both on the right side and left side."

Caylan Russ - 5-6 - Libero - Winter Garden, Fla. - Windermere High School
One of the top liberos in the state of Florida is coming to the Capital City as Caylan Russ has signed with the Florida State volleyball team and will be on the Seminoles' 2024 squad that returns most of its top production from last year's ACC Championship squad that finished the season 23-9. Russ was a four-year letterwinner at Windermere High School and was ranked the No. 4 libero by Prep Dig in the state of Florida coming out of high school. Russ was a captain for her Windermere squad in 2023. During her senior season, she recorded 468 digs in 81 sets while serving 48 aces with just 23 service errors on the season. Prior to her senior year, she was invited to the Under Armor National Prospect Camp and also earned Honorable Mention honors from Prepvolleyball.com. In 2021, Russ helped Windermere to a terrific season where they finished the year as district champions, regional champions and state runners-up. Russ plans on majoring in biological science at Florida State. Caylan is the daughter of Chris and Sasha Russ and she has three siblings - Taliyah, Jaydyn and Kendall. Her dad, Chris, played football at South Carolina State. Her cousin is former Florida State wide receiver Kenny Shaw who was a member of the 2013 National Championship team.

From Coach Poole: "Caylan will add to our libero position for passing and defense. She is very athletic and has played for one of the top club programs in the country."

Johanna Sova - 6-5 - Middle Blocker - Tallinn, Estonia - Gustav Adolf Grammar School
Johanna Sova is going to add some great depth to a talented offensive room for the 2024 FSU volleyball team. Sova is currently a member of the Estonian National Team and was a three-time Estonian Championship winner and also was a member of the Estonian National U19 and U21 teams. She is the daughter of Elo and Vahur Sova and she plans on majoring in special education.

From Coach Poole: "Johanna is 6-5 and has a long reach and arm span. She has gained experience playing for the Estonia National Team and will be counted on to give us depth in the middle blocker position."

FSU sports information:

Rising Florida State men’s swimming and diving freshman Logan Robinson was selected to represent USA Swimming for the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships that will be held in Canberra, Australia, from Aug. 21-24.

Robinson earned his spot on the roster after finishing as the top available junior at the 2024 U.S. Olympics Trials in the men’s 200-meter fly, where he finished 13th behind a personal best of 1:58.08.

“We could not be happier for Logan,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “He has worked hard for this, and we are excited to begin working with him to continue his development.”

A native of Pensacola, Fla., Robinson was the 2023 FHSAA 3A state champion in the 100 fly (47.18) and 200 free (1:36.72).

While representing Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club, Robinson was a seven-time finalist at the 2024 NCSA Spring Championship finalist. He was also a two-time finalist at the Speedo Junior National Championships in 2023 where he finished fifth in the 200 free (1:50.62) and sixth in the 200 fly (2:00.04).

How do you rank the head coaches on FSU's schedule for 2024?

1) Dabo Swinney-Clemson: The Osceola's always talks about football being a merit-based profession, hard to argue with Dabo's results.

2) Bill O' Brien-Boston College: His time as a college head coach is limited but he did a great job in a short-time at Penn State and has success as an assistant at the college level at GT. Very good play-caller. 15-9 with the Nittany Lions under some severe sanctions by the NCAA. Was 52-48 as a head coach in the NFL.

3) Mack Brown-UNC: Wins everywhere he goes but father time is catching up with him. 282-149-1 as a college coach. One national title. I think his best days are behind or I would have him at number two and I think he more of figurehead at this point in his career so probably should go more towards the middle of the pack but out of respect, he is at three. And the fact that he just can't seem to beat FSU should knock him down the list.

4) Billy Napier-Florida: The deck is stacked against him in 2024, if he is as good as I think he is, he will be back in 2025. He is 11-14 at Florida but 51-26 overall as a head coach.

5) Marcus Freeman-Notre Dame: He is entering his third season at ND. Has won 70-percent of his games in two seasons.

6) Brent Key-Georgia Tech: He is 11-10 in two seasons at GT and got the Jackets to a bowl game last season. GT is noticeably tougher under Key than they were under Geoff Collins, and you would expect that out of someone who played and coached for George O'Leary as well as coached for Nick Saban. I almost put him in front of Freeman since he took over a more difficult program.

7) Rhett Lashlee-SMU: went 7-6 in his first year at SMU followed by an 11-3 season in 2024. He is a Hugh Freeze disciple and a very good play caller. Brings the Mustangs into the ACC with some momentum.

8) Ryan Satterfield-Memphis-He took over for Mike Norvell at Memphis and has not had a losing season. Came into last year under some pressure after going a combined 13-12 in 2021 and 2022. The Tigers went 10-3 last year which probably saved his job. He is 31-19 in four plus seasons.

9) Mario Cristobal-Miami: He should be ranked higher based off his record as a HC, but I still can't unsee what I saw at the end of the Georgia Tech game last season when all he had to do was take a knee to win. He doesn't, and you know the rest of the story. Also, he lost a game at Oregon in similar fashion. He is 12-13 at Miami and 74-73.

10) Manny Diaz-Duke: He went 21-15 at Miami after taking over for Mark Richt. Just never seemed like a good fit. He never had a losing record in ACC play, though.

11) Justin Wilcox-California: Wilcox hasn't had a winning season since 2019 and only two at Cal since he took over in 2017. He is 36-43 overall with the Bears.