Murchison's future unclear

SEATTLE - Washington cornerback Jordan Murchison found himself in the Seattle Correctional Facility Wednesday night, after he turned himself in. The senior from Oakland, Calif. was wanted after failing to appear in King County Court in connection with a felony assault charge that took place in March. He is currently out on $10,000 bail.

Online court records also indicate that Murchison was booked in jail for a day in June on charges of misdemeanor assault and harassment charges. That case is ongoing, and Washington Head Coach Tyrone Willingham said Thursday that he was unaware of all the information regarding Murchison's arrests.

"We will make the appropriate decisions when we have all the information," he said, stopping short of saying that Murchison was suspended indefinitely. "He will do nothing with the team at this time," Willingham added. "You don't ever want to see any incident of this nature because people's lives are changed. But the good things in this program will still go forward."

Willingham said that he knew of the incident in the spring, but was not sure if charges would be filed at that time. He also didn't know of a second charge that was ultimately the reason for the staff advising Murchison to turn himself in to authorities Wednesday when they found out Murchison had failed to appear. "We always want our guys to do the right thing."

Willingham was unsure as to why Murchison missed his court date, and even though the two spoke Wednesday morning, Willingham was more concerned with making sure that Murchison took care of his own personal business. "We don't want them to be found guilty of something before the process is worked out," he said. "Until everything unfolds, you just don't know."

Willingham reiterated that Murchison - who played junior college football at City College of San Francisco before being recruited to Washington - gave him no reason to believe he was of poor character. "We thought in our recruitment process that we had a wonderful young man," Willingham said. "And we constantly talk to our team about their responsibilities. We also know that in a group of a hundred, not everyone is going to make the right decision."

According to Willingham, Murchison's absence from the team would not immediately mean another player would move into the secondary to take his place. "As of right now, we'll work with the corps that we have back there," he said, adding that Matt Mosley and Cory Nicol were two players that saw time opposite Roy Lewis.

"It's saddening to hear, he's a good teammate and friend to all of us," Nicol said. "That just means all of us are going to have to step our games up and fill his shoes. He was running with the ones."

For his part, Willingham doesn't appear to be waiting for the process to deal with Murchison. "Problems you find a solution for. Plan your work, and work your plan. We'll have a plan for what we do, and if that plan doesn't work, you come back, you come up with a new plan - hopefully a better plan - and then you work your plan. I will not sit around and be frustrated about the things we do in this program."

Jordan Murchison Scout.com Profile