Patrick Murphy leaves Bama for LSU

4Q Basket Case said:

Sad story by Tommy Deas on TideSports today. Basically says that Murphy would have stayed if he'd felt appreciated.

Also got a raise of 60%+, from $140K to $225K. Deas says we matched it, but LSU showed him the love, whereas we didn't. At least, not until it was too late.


TideSports.com - Murphy's departure leaves fans wondering what's next

LSU rubbed our face in it a bit, saying that Murphy is a superstar in the softball world, and should be compensated and treated like one. Smack talk though that may be, it stings because it's true.

This one hurts, mainly because it could so easily have been avoided.

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I'm not on the inside, and maybe he did, but if CPM really wanted to stay at BAMA, why didn't he just say I need this, this, and this or I'm taking the LSU job. I'm sure we would have worked something out. From what the article says, LSU broke the standard for college softball salaries with their offer to CPM, (sort of what we did to get Coach Saban), so it sounds like he wasn't underpaid compared to the industry standards. We matched the offer, so I can't help but feel that CPM just plain abandoned his team.

Also, I live in New Orleans and football is king at LSU, just like it is at BAMA. If CPM thinks softball is not appreciated at BAMA, my experience is it's even more unappreciated at LSU. Hope we can get a coach to continue what CPM started. Krymsonman

He had been asking for upgrades, to be told it was not in the budget. He & the Dimondbackers raised the money to build the Brickyard & the new batting facility. We already have one of the nicest Stadiums in the country & have had a waiting list of over 500 for season tickets. Its not a case of keeping up with the Jones, its staying ahead of the Jones.

BamaHoHo said:

He had been asking for upgrades, to be told it was not in the budget. He & the Diamondbackers raised the money to build the Brickyard & the new batting facility. We already have one of the nicest Stadiums in the country & have had a waiting list of over 500 for season tickets. Its not a case of keeping up with the Jones, its staying ahead of the Jones.

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Absolutey agree with everything above 100%. He had us competing in the WCWS more than half the years he was here which is the pinnacle of softball. He should not have had to go to LSU to be appreciated. He was appreciated by the fans and they all felt for the most part it just would be a matter of time before we broke thru and won a championship. Mal took it for granted that he would not leave. Think about it, his salary was 3.5% of Saban's. We could have kept him simply by making a commitment to facilty upgrades that kept up with the rest of the conference and paid him what he was worth.

Ulitimately it was about where softball fell in the athletic dept heirarchy. When it came time to hand out the money, they were last and they weren't even close to the next sport I imagine.

SavannahDare said:

I don't make a habit of saying things I don't really believe. Based on what I watched on tv, he seemed dispassionate about how his team was collapsing. My opinion. Makes sense to me knowing that he already knew the deal he had in the works.

I don't feel badly towards the man. He did great things for our program and I wish him well at LSU.

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You are right Savannah, he showed no fire in both Florida games because I too think he already knew his fate. Only thing I disagree with is I dont quite wish him as much luck at LSU as you do. If he went out of conference I'd have a different opinion. But moving to one of our big rivals will get no love from me.

I'll NEVER believe he "just now" made his decision after the season. He knew in OKC he was going to lsu and it showed.

BamaHoHo said:

He had been asking for upgrades, to be told it was not in the budget. He & the Dimondbackers raised the money to build the Brickyard & the new batting facility. We already have one of the nicest Stadiums in the country & have had a waiting list of over 500 for season tickets. Its not a case of keeping up with the Jones, its staying ahead of the Jones.

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All he had to do was threaten to retire or move on like Wells did with the baseball team who was getting the cold-shoulder too. All he had to do was threaten to leave and Malfunction would have gotten on the ball or he would have been 100% on the hook for this fiasco. Now instead Murphy will take some of the heat instead of Mal taking it ALL. He should have went public with the non-help and he would have got help, but instead thought moving to lsu would have hurt Mal more but instead is on the brink of destroying the whole program if Mal hires the wrong man or woman. Thats not helping Bama one bit. Thats why I refuse to wish him all the luck everyone else is. If Mal makes a wrong hire Murphy and Mal just destroyed one of the countrys best programs. I hope we stomp lsu every year he is there, and I hope they get to the WCWS and we destroy them there as well and his curse continues. I just dont feel good that Malfunction will hire the best person available either. I think he goes cheap and it costs us dearly, but I hope I'm wrong. Murphy cold have had his choice of where to coach, but to move to a rival shows me he doesnt care much about our program or the girls in it as they have to face their old coach every year. I'm not even sure Mal knows who to go after, as he let Wells dictate who the coach was going to be by letting Gaspard in. I still think we should have went after Bobby Pierce in that situation.

Mal HAS to make a splash with this hire or we are doomed.

HEEEESSS Back! Strangest turn of events I've seen in a while. It just seemed so out of character for him to leave in the 1st place. Frankly, he is probably the best coach we could have ended up with anyway so Welcome Back Coach.