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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Patrick Murphy
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Home Phone: -- Patrick’s Living Memorial to the Yvette Girouard Tribute is followed by additional information on his career. Patrick Murphy – USL, Grad. Asst. Sports Information 1989-90 & Asst. Softball Coach 1990-94, U. of Alabama Head Softball Coach 1998 to present “How do I say thank you to the person who gave me my start in Division I athletics? A one-in-a-million chance came true when I started graduate school at USL in the fall of 1988. I was a GA in the sports information office where another Hall-of-Famer gave me a job (Dan McDonald). After a year of going to school, working in the SID office and working on my thesis, head softball coach Yvette Girouard took me to dinner at Alesi’s Pizza House. She changed my life in one evening. She asked if I wanted another duty and I said, “Sure! What is it?†She said, “My assistant coach.†“Yvette taught me the value of really hard work, persistence, resiliency, having an attitude of gratitude and the ability to run a world-class program on a shoestring budget.†No one out-worked her. I think one of the most interesting questions you can ask about a coach is this: ‘Could she be employed in another work environment and still be at the top of her class?’ The answer: she could have coached football and won. She would have been a great Athletic Director. She could have run the Cajundome and brought it to new heights. I have tried to emulate her in several ways while at Alabama. To this day, if I have an issue that arises that I am not sure quite how to handle, she’s the first person I call. And the advice is always on the money. “Thank you, Yvette, for everything you did for me while with the Lady Cajuns. It was an incredible experience and made me who I am today.†* * * * * Assistant Softball Coach from 1990-1994 on the Girouard staff. Currently Head Softball Coach at the University of Alabama. * * * * * * * * * * Glenn Berteau, Daily Advertiser, June 13, 2011 BATON ROUGE — Patrick Murphy is going back to “Ala-BAMA,” as Forrest Gump would have said. After one weekend as LSU’s softball coach, including a memorable press conference Friday that seemed more like a Christmas family reunion than a coaching announcement for a minor sport, Murphy called LSU associate athletic director Miriam Segar at 1:30 Sunday afternoon. Baton Rouge was already in his rearview mirror. Like a Bama breeze, he was gone. Segar called LSU athletic director Joe Alleva, who on Friday had made Murphy the highest paid softball coach in the country at $225,000 a year. Alleva and Murphy met at Alleva’s office next to Tiger Stadium Sunday. Soon a press release was in the works. Under the title, “LSU softball search begins anew as Murphy changes mind,” it was sent out at 5:24 p.m. Sunday. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” said LSU associate athletic director Herb Vincent when he heard. “LSU has re-opened its search for a new softball coach after Patrick Murphy reneged on his decision to coach the Tigers,” Vincent’s release said. “I don’t know of anything like this happening before at LSU,” said Vincent, who first began working in the school’s athletic department in 1979. “He said his heart wasn’t in it. The only thing close to it is when we cancelled a press conference to announce the hiring of Pat Sullivan.” Another Alabama guy, Sullivan was set to leave TCU’s head coaching job in December of 1994 to become LSU’s new football coach, replacing Curley Hallman. But soon problems developed with the contract buyout Sullivan had to pay TCU. And Sullivan, a Birmingham, Ala., native and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at Auburn in 1971, never became LSU’s coach — not even for a day. There was no press conference. Vanderbilt coach Gerry DiNardo later took the job. The press conference for Murphy on Friday at 3 p.m. was filled with homecoming hugs right out of a Hallmark movie. Murphy would be replacing mentor Yvette Girouard, who taught the then-25-year-old how to coach softball when he was a first-time assistant at UL from 1990-94. Girouard, who helped Alleva with the hire, sat at the center of the room on a line with Murphy. On Friday, Murphy brought with him associate head coach Alyson Habetz, a native of Crowley who played on Girouard’s first College World Series team at UL in 1993. “Half of the city of Crowley was at the press conference,” Vincent said. A gentleman walked up to Murphy as one-on-one interviews began after the press conference. “Welcome home,” he said. “From the nature of the press conference and less than 48 hours later, I’m shocked,” Vincent said. Murphy was asked after the Friday press conference if Alabama matched LSU’s $225,000 offer, which was $60,000 more than his previous salary. “They attempted to,” Murphy said. “It was just a little too late, though.” “I am glad to see that he has had a change of heart because I have always known that he is one of the finest coaches in America,” Alabama athletic director Mal Moore said Sunday. “We went after him, and we got him. This is a great day for LSU softball,” Alleva said Friday, but it did not end up being a good week for Alleva. “I am very disappointed in Patrick’s decision after he had committed to be our head coach,” Alleva said Sunday. “I am especially disappointed for the young women on our team to whom he gave every indication he was in this for the long haul. We will use this opportunity to find a coach who will be the right leader for our student-athletes, who will wear the purple and gold with pride and will lead the softball program with integrity.” Suddenly Alleva is scrambling for a new coach again. On Sunday, he asked Habetz to interview. She said no. She’s going back to Alabama, too. Houston Coach Kyla Holas, a UL pitcher on the 1993 World Series team under Girouard and Murphy, is a likely candidate. She will be in Louisiana on June 16-18 for Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction in Natchitoches. “I can’t believe I’m standing here,” Murphy said Friday. He’s not anymore. “LSU offered me a great opportunity,” Murphy said in a release put out by Alabama Sunday night that said their coach was back. “But I realized once I got there that I had made a mistake that had nothing to do with LSU. I realized that I belong at Alabama. Alabama is where my heart is, and I cannot in good conscience try to do a job in which I am not totally committed beyond any doubt.” On Friday, Murphy praised LSU for performing a first in college softball — going after a sitting head coach and not just gathering up the usual resumes. “The way LSU went about it in my mind only happens in football and men’s basketball,” he said. He also explained how as a UL assistant he used to drive to LSU to watch baseball and “loved Todd Walker” and “was the biggest Ben McDonald fan” and wore LSU shirts “until I wore them out.” He noted that purple and gold were the colors at his Northern Iowa alma mater. Suddenly, Murphy is all red again. “I can honestly say that the last few days have only made it clear that Alabama is where I want to be — beyond any doubt,” he said. “I think my career has come full circle,” he said Friday before a drastic turn. “She (Girouard) gave me my first coaching job. I hope to make her proud and win the first SEC softball national championship.” Girouard did not return a call Sunday. “I appreciate everything LSU did,” Murphy said. “This change of heart is not in any way a reflection on anyone at LSU. It is solely something I am responsible for. I can only convey to everyone my deepest apologies for putting all of those who care about both of these programs through a difficult time.” * * * * * * * * * * Softball: LSU gets revenge on Alabama – Hiring of Patrick Murphy as Head Softball Coach Glenn Guilbeau, Daily Advertiser, June 11, 2011 BATON ROUGE — Four years later, LSU has gained a measure of revenge against the University of Alabama. Alabama hired former LSU coach Nick Saban away from the Miami Dolphins after the 2006 season, causing LSU fans to see red and call Saban a traitor, among other things. On Friday, LSU introduced new softball coach Patrick Murphy, the Bear Bryant of softball at Alabama with seven Women’s College World Series appearances and six Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles through 13 seasons with the Crimson Tide. “It’s a shame that he ruined what would have been a wonderful legacy at Alabama,” a reader said on al.com. “He has truly shown how much his heart was actually in it with us. I can’t imagine leaving where you’ve been for 15 years to go next door. They can say what they want about Saban, but he left for the NFL. Granted, softball isn’t football, but this is pretty low. I feel bad for the girls.” Another reader said simply, “I’m devastated.” Former Alabama softball star and two-time Olympian Kelly Kretschman, who played for Murphy from 1998-2001, was taken aback as well. “I’m a little bit upset and disappointed,” she told the Tuscaloosa News. “Murphy was the face of Alabama softball for a long time, and for him to leave for another program — a program that’s a hated rival in the conference — it’s disappointing.” Former Alabama player Staci Ramsey, now an assistant at Stephen F. Austin, grew ill with the news. “I’m pretty floored,” she told the Tuscaloosa News. “It hurts and it stings a lot. When I first heard, I was sick to my stomach. I thought surely, ‘This is not true.'” Murphy, who made approximately $165,000 a year at Alabama, will be making $225,000 a year at LSU for what is believed to be the highest salary in college softball. Saban became the highest paid coach in college football at $4 million a year when he left the Dolphins for Alabama. Murphy did not fail to see the connection. “I don’t think many coaches in the country can say they coached at Alabama, and definitely not many coaches can say they had the opportunity to not only coach at Alabama, but also coach at a great school like LSU,” he said at a press conference Friday. “I can think of only one other person that has done that (Saban), and he’s done pretty good it. I hope to follow in his footsteps.” LSU athletic director Joe Alleva hopes he does, too. Saban won national championships at both schools. “I want to win in everything,” said Alleva, who last month doubled women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell’s salary by hiring her away from UCLA for $700,000 a year — the same pay that LSU offensive and defensive coordinators Steve Kragthorpe and John Chavis make. “If you strive for excellence, I need to have excellent performers,” Alleva said. “We have a $15 million facility out there. We need to fill it up and win championships. That’s the goal.” Alleva’s approach to go for the gold by going for a sitting head coach is what turned Murphy’s head. “That’s never happened before in college softball,” Murphy said. “It showed me right then and there how much LSU really cares about softball. They just set the bar about 15 years in advance for college softball coaches. I truly believe that.” Similar statements were made when then-LSU chancellor Mark Emmert hired Saban away from Michigan State for $1.2 million in 2000, making him one of the highest paid college football coaches in the country. “To my knowledge, the way LSU went about hiring me has never happened in the sport of softball,” Murphy said. “Usually what happens is the administration compiles coaches’ resumes and applications to go through. The way LSU went about it in my mind only happens in football and men’s basketball. To say, ‘This is the one person that we want,’ was very flattering to me.” There have been reports that third parties representing LSU put out feelers to eight-time national champion Arizona coach Mike Candrea. Alleva said he did not talk to Candrea. “What they did was a huge statement to me because nobody does that,” Murphy said. “LSU is not putting softball on the back burner.” Murphy was asked if he spoke to Saban about his days at LSU from 2000-04. “I’ve never seen him,” Murphy said. “He’s in like Fort Knox there.” Murphy, who was 712-210 at Alabama and reached three of the last four College World Series, replaces Hall of Fame softball coach Yvette Girouard, who retired this season after taking LSU to two WCWS appearances and Louisiana-Lafayette to three. Murphy was an assistant under Girouard from 1990-94 at ULL, and LSU will also be hiring Alabama assistant Alyson Habetz, a Crowley native and member of Girouard’s first WCWS team in 1993. “We feel like we are replacing Yvette with a future Hall of Famer,” Alleva said. “This is a great day for LSU softball. I couldn’t be more proud and honored to have Patrick Murphy as our new head coach.” Murphy said LSU offers recruiting advantages Alabama does not because of Louisiana’s proximity to Texas, particularly Houston softball talent. “Everything is in place to have a championship program, no question,” he said. “I can’t believe I’m standing up here. It’s an incredible honor to join the long line of incredible coaches at LSU. I think my career has come full circle. She (Girouard) gave me my first coaching job. Now I hope to make her proud and win the first SEC softball national championship because I’m tired of this conference not having one.” * * * * * * * * * * Glenn Guilbeau, Daily Advertiser, June 10, 2011 BATON ROUGE – LSU athletic director Joe Alleva may have hit his second home run in just over two months by attracting another sitting head coach from a major program in a major conference. Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy, who has taken the Crimson Tide to seven College World Series and won three Southeastern Conference championships, is coming to LSU, Alleva announced late Thursday. “We are very excited to bring Patrick to LSU to lead our softball program,” Alleva said. “Patrick has done an outstanding job building Alabama into one of the nation’s premier programs.” In early April, Alleva hired women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell away from UCLA and away from Virginia, which was trying to hire her away from UCLA. Caldwell will earn $700,000 a year – about $400,000 more than she was making at UCLA. Murphy, according to the Tuscaloosa News, is expected to make more than $200,000 a year, which will make him the highest paid softball coach in the country. He was making approximately $165,000. Alabama said it would match the offer, but Murphy opted for LSU. He will replace softball Hall of Fame coach Yvette Girouard, who retired after this past season and was also making in the $160,000 range. “When Yvette retired, we lost a Hall of Fame coach,” Alleva said. “We feel like we are replacing Yvette with a future Hall of Fame coach.” Murphy, a 45-year-old Waterloo, Iowa, native, was an assistant under Girouard at Louisiana-Lafayette from 1990-94. He had a .772 winning percentage in 13 seasons at Alabama – fourth highest in NCAA history. He is bringing along Alabama associate head coach Alyson Habetz, who is a native of Crowley and played on ULL’s 1993 College World Series under Girouard. A press conference at 3 p.m. today at LSU will introduce Murphy. At 1:30 p.m., LSU is expected to announce the hiring of new baseball assistant coach Alan Dunn to coach the pitchers. Dunn has been the minor league pitching coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles. Alabama just finished its 2011 season in third place at the College World Series with a 53-11 record after winning its second consecutive SEC regular season title. In 13 seasons at Alabama, Murphy was 712-210 with 13 straight NCAA postseason appearances, and he was 287-76 in the SEC with the three regular season titles and three tournament championships. In nine seasons at Alabama, Murphy won 50 games or more. * * * * * * * * * * Updated July 2, 2010 In today’s world of collegiate athletics, where coaches change jobs and take on new programs with increasing regularity, not many can claim to have been there at the beginning. Not many can say they were there at the origin of a program, having been there from the very inception to where it stands today. And certainly nobody can claim to have brought a program further, and in shorter time, than Crimson Tide head softball coach Patrick Murphy. From a humble start to becoming a model of success and consistency, Murphy has taken Alabama to the top of the college softball world. Beginning with his days as an assistant in the very first years of the Alabama softball program, Murphy has been the face of a team that has grown under his leadership to become one of the most consistently successful programs in the nation. The accomplishments are there for everyone to see. Six College World Series berths, an SEC title and 11 straight NCAA Tournament bids are just a few of the team honors Murphy has brought to Tuscaloosa during his tenure. The individual honors are just as impressive. Tide players have earned All-American honors no fewer than 57 times under Murphy’s watch. He has tutored 55 All-SEC performers and over 41 All-Region honorees. His teams have been just as successful in the classroom, with seven Academic All-Americans and 92 Academic All-SEC players to his credit. Even more impressively, Murphy has led the program to a surge of popularity among Tide fans. Alabama has become a regular atop the nation’s attendance standings, with an ever-growing group of loyal fans who fill the stands at the Alabama softball facility throughout the season. The 2008 campaign was a sellout, setting a new benchmark in season tickets sold with more than 1,200 going to loyal fans. The 2009 season Alabama broke the single season attendance record formerly held by Fresno State. Those numbers are what every softball coach in the nation would do anything to achieve and stand as a tribute both to what Murphy and his team have achieved and to the willingness of Tide fans to support a program that does things right, both on and off the field. Now in his 12th season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Murphy has turned his program into an absolute model of consistency, having guided Alabama to 11 consecutive NCAA tournaments, including appearances in the 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 Women’s College World Series. This past spring Murphy eclipsed the 600 win mark en route to leading the Crimson Tide to its second straight WCWS appearance and sixth berth in the last nine years. For their efforts the Alabama coaching staff was once again named the NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year. Alabama finished with a 54-11 record and a 21-6 conference mark en route to equalling its longest run at the WCWS. Individually Charlotte Morgan was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Amanda Locke was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Year. Morgan, along with Kelsi Dunne and Brittany Rogers earned NFCA All-American accolades. Backstop Ashley Holcombe was named an ESPN.com All-American. In 2008, Murphy and his staff were named the NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year for the fourth time after leading Alabama to a 58-8 overall record, and a school record .879 winning percentage. UA made its longest run in the WCWS by finishing with a 2-2 mark in Oklahoma City. Alabama had four players earn 2008 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association The Crimson Tide led the nation with three first-team selections as Brittany Rogers, Charlotte Morgan and Kelley Montalvo were honored. Freshman pitcher Kelsi Dunne also garnered third-team honors. It marked the most first-team All-America selections in school history and tied the 2001 team with four total All-Americans. Since taking over prior to the 1999 season, he has compiled a winning record in all 10 seasons. He has won 45 or more games in each of the past nine years with a program-best 66 victories in 2000 and 63 wins in 2005. Murphy has also won over 20 games in conference play in eight of his 10seasons in the SEC. The 2008 campaign marked the third time he had posted 25 conference victories, matching the win totals from the 2006 and 2000 seasons. Murphy’s ability to build and maintain the impressive level of consistency places him among the nation’s elite. He has a career mark of 608-188 in 11 seasons, including one year at Northwest Missouri State. His winning percentage of .764 ranks him fourth among active coaches who have coached at least five years at the Division I level. He has a .775 winning percentage as the head coach at the University of Alabama and has been just as successful in the always competitive SEC with a 224-72 (.757) record. It is his desire for perfection that has led the Tide to the upper echelon of the softball world. Murphy’s desire and hard-nosed work ethic has led the Tide program to as high as No. 1 in the national rankings, reached for the first time in program history during the 2007 regular season and continued through the 2009 season. The Tide has finished ranked in the top 10 in the final polls in each of the past five campaigns. Entering his 19th season as a collegiate coach, Murphy officially acquired the title of Alabama’s head coach on July 12, 1998. He spent the two previous years as an assistant coach on the Crimson Tide coaching staff. In his first season as the head coach he took the team to its first NCAA Tournament with a 39-26 record. The Tide lost to No. 1 UCLA and No. 23 Missouri in the Los Angeles Regional. In his second season, he took the program to the next step, leading Alabama to its first-ever Women’s College World Series berth after the best regular season in school history. That 2000 team won a school record 66 games (66-14) and 25 SEC games (25-5). They finished ranked in the top 10 for the first time in school history after earning a 6-4 victory over DePaul for the school’s first win in the WCWS. Alabama continued its success in 2001 when they hosted the NCAA Regional for the first time. The Tide ended the season ranked No. 10 with a 50-11 record and 24-6 SEC mark. In 2002 they went 46-21 (22-8 SEC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Murphy took the Tide back to the Women’s College World Series in 2003. After winning his first SEC Championship as a head coach, the team swept the NCAA Regional to advance to the WCWS where they lost two close games, 3-2, to No. 1 Arizona and 6-3 (9) to No. 4 Oklahoma. Alabama finished ranked No. 7 with a 49-21 record (22-8 SEC). The 2004 team posted a 45-20 mark but had to travel to No. 4 UCLA for the NCAA Regional and lost twice to the Bruins. However, the next season they were back at the Women’s College World Series. The 2005 squad tallied the second most wins in school history with a 63-15 record and 23-7 SEC ledger. They won the school’s third SEC Tournament Championship with a 2-0 victory over Georgia. and swept the NCAA Regional to earn the right to travel to College Station for a two-game sweep over No. 5 Texas A&M in the Super Regional. In the WCWS, they earned a 12-inning 2-1 victory over DePaul before they were eliminated with a 4-0 loss to Tennessee. A product of Waterloo, Iowa, one could almost say he was born to be around the game of baseball. In the third grade, young Murphy put on his first baseball glove and took to the little league fields. Five years later, fresh out of the eighth grade, he made Fayette (IA) High School’s varsity baseball squad and played the next five years for five different coaches. “I always knew I wanted to be a coach,” he said. “My high school was such a small school that I got to play varsity baseball in eighth grade and, every year, I had a different coach and, every year, it was something different I learned, either good or bad, from that coach. My senior year, I tried to put everything together I had learned from all the different coaches and came up with a good coaching philosophy.” After hanging up his spikes on his prep career, Murphy made the trip to the campus of the University of Northern Iowa where he spent the next four years. Murphy took his first job doing what he had always wanted to do, however, on a smaller scale, when he became a little league head coach. Three years after taking that job, he graduated from Northern Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in History Education, and then loaded up in 1988 and began his trek into the real world, only to find that it brought him right back where he had started. Even with his youngest players not being much younger than himself, Murphy concedes that his first job as a head coach was where he learned the most – about himself and the game. “Those kids were baseball nuts,” he said. “They played baseball on the town tennis court because that was the only place in town that had lights. The lights would go off automatically at midnight so that is when they knew they had to go home. “They taught me so many things about the game of baseball. They played because they loved it so much.” It took just two years for Murphy to become a success as a head coach. After leading the Sumner High School boys to a 22-3 record in his first year as head coach, he led the Aces to the state championship game the next season. Following a short stay at Sumner, Murphy continued his education as a graduate student at Southwestern Louisiana. While at USL, he broke into the collegiate coaching ranks as an assistant softball coach while finishing his master’s degree in communications in 1992. “The head coach at USL knew I had coached baseball in Iowa and she told me about the job,” Murphy remembers. “It only paid six thousand dollars, but I was in grad school there and she asked me if I wanted another duty. So I said `Sure, I’ll try it.’ That’s where it all started and I just got hooked.” Prospering with the Ragin’ Cajuns through a five-year record (1990-94) of 239-46, including a trip to the 1993 Women’s College World Series on the shoulders of former player and current Alabama assistant coach Alyson Habetz, Murphy moonlighted as head coach of the Independence (IA) high school baseball team from 1992-95. Due to the high recognition of his duties as an assistant coach at USL, along with the solid success of his duties as a high school coach, Murphy learned of and got a job as interim head coach at Northwest Missouri State in 1995. Although he was officially hired just three weeks before spring practice in 1995, Murphy led the Bearcats to a 28-20 record. At every stop, then, Murphy has proven himself to be a leader capable of recruiting and developing talented players who perform on the field and in the classroom. Combining that with the lure of athletic tradition at Alabama and the nation’s finest facilities, the Crimson Tide softball team remains poised to be among the nation’s best for the foreseeable future. Murphy’s Career Record After 12 seasons as head coach, Patrick Murphy has achieved unbelievable success: SixCollege World Series appearances (2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009) THE MURPHY FILE Coaching Career: Head Softball Coach Coach, Team Yrs. Pct. * * * * * * * * * * On the Run, Lafayette Daily Advertiser, May 11, 2006 The Tigers, who are a sixth-seed in the SEC Tournament, had pitcher Emily Turner and center fielder Leslie Klein both earn first team honors, while pitcher Dani Hofer was named to the conference All-Freshman team.
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