Change is on the horizon for the Milwaukee Brewers as they announce their decision to elevate Bench Coach Pat Murphy to the managerial position that was left vacant following the departure of former manager Craig Counsell. The Brewers, along with everyone else in the baseball world, were caught off-guard when it was announced that the Chicago Cubs made the decision to hire Counsell away from the Brewers to be their next manager, thus putting the Brewers in a tough spot with a sudden managerial vacancy. The Brewers decided to hire within rather than conducting a broad managerial search and determined that elevating Pat Murphy was the natural move. Murphy had served as Counsell’s bench coach since 2016. His previous coaching experience includes head coaching jobs at Notre Dame and Arizona State University. He was also interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015.
Pat Murphy got his first head coaching job in 1987 when he was hired by Notre Dame to be their next head baseball coach. The Fighting Irish went 39-22 in 1988, Murphy’s first season as the Notre Dame head coach. The Fighting Irish would win 40+ games in each of Murphy’s remaining years with the team from 1989 to 1994. Murphy led the Fighting Irish to the NCAA Regionals 4 times. He finished his tenure at Notre Dame with 318 wins.
Pat Murphy was hired by Arizona State University to be their next head baseball coach ahead of the 1995 season. The Sun Devils won 34 games in 1995 and 35 games in 1996. The Sun Devils would win 30+ games throughout Murphy’s entire tenure with the team, this included 6 seasons with 40 or more wins and two seasons with 50 or more wins. The Sun Devils also went to the College World Series 4 times under the direction of Pat Murphy, including being national runner-up in 1998. Pat Murphy won 629 games as head coach of the Sun Devils. Murphy was fired after the 2009 season due to an ongoing investigation by the NCAA into possible recruitment violations.
Pat Murphy had been serving as the bench coach to former Brewers Manager Craig Counsell since 2016. The Brewers have made it to the playoffs 5 times from 2016 to 2023, including 3 division titles in 2018, 2021, and 2023. Counsell’s time as manager of the Brewers came to an end following the 2023 season after he got hired by the Cubs to be their next manager. The Cubs gave Counsell a 5-year contract worth $40 million, making Counsell the highest paid manager in baseball history. This prompted the Brewers to promote Bench Coach Pat Murphy to fill their managerial vacancy.
Pat Murphy’s only prior experience as an MLB manager came in 2015 when he was the interim manager for the San Diego Padres. The Padres went 42-54 under his leadership.
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