Pat Murphy Evolved. That’s Why He’s a Champion.

By BK, Athletic Hitting Development
Complete Hitters Aren’t Born. They’re Built… and Earned.

Pat Murphy is a World Series champion manager because he never stopped evolving. I was a high school coach seven miles north of ASU during his heyday there, and the man leading the Brewers today has grown tremendously, as a person and as a manager.

On October 28, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Rays in Game 5 to win the first World Series title in the franchise’s 57-year history. The guy running that dugout is a name every Arizona baseball person knows.

I watched his ASU years up close from my own dugout. He did some GREAT things there. But who he is now? That’s the story worth telling every coach and every hitter I work with.

1. Who Is Pat Murphy?

Pat Murphy was the head coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 1994, then took over Arizona State from 1995 to 2009. His Sun Devils made four trips to the College World Series and finished runner-up in 1998.

From there he went to pro ball. He was the Padres’ interim manager in 2015, then Craig Counsell’s bench coach in Milwaukee from 2016 to 2023. When Counsell left after 2023, the Brewers handed Murph the job.

He was named NL Manager of the Year in 2024 and again in 2025. Now he has a ring. And at 67, he’s the oldest manager in the big leagues.

2. What Was It Like Coaching Down the Road From His ASU Teams?

I was a high school coach seven miles north of ASU during Pat Murphy’s heyday at ASU. If you coached in the Valley back then, Sun Devil baseball was the standard everybody measured against.

He did some GREAT things there. Winning programs, big league players, Omaha trips. Nobody can take that away from him.

But who he is as a person and a manager now… he’s evolved tremendously.

That’s the part that gets me. Plenty of coaches win early and then spend 30 years being the same guy. Murph kept changing. That’s rare in this game, and it’s why I wanted to write this.

3. What Does “Evolved” Look Like in a Manager?

Tyler Kepner wrote a great piece in The Athletic about how Murph got here. His humor isn’t a show. There’s a reason behind every bit, and it keeps a room loose without letting it get soft.

His players notice. Brewers captain Christian Yelich put it simply: “You can’t fake anything with Murph.” In other words, he sees right through anybody who isn’t being real.

Life helped shape him, too. In August 2020, as Milwaukee’s bench coach, he had a heart attack at the ballpark and was rushed out in an ambulance. He came back to the team that September. A scare like that changes how a man sees the game, his family and the people in his clubhouse.

Humor with a purpose. Honesty you can’t fake. That’s a leader players will run through a wall for.

Think about what it takes to keep changing in your late 50s and 60s with a résumé like his. He could have leaned on the ASU wins and called it a career. Instead he spent eight years as a bench coach, learning a big league clubhouse, before he ever got the top job.

That’s what evolved looks like. Same competitor. Same baseball mind. A lot more humanity.

4. What Can High School and Travel Coaches Learn From Murph?

I’ve spent 52 years playing, coaching and scouting this game, including 30 years coaching high school and college in Arizona and Texas. Here’s what I’d tell any coach after watching Murph’s journey:

• Stay a student. The coach you were at 35 shouldn’t be the coach you are at 55.
• Be real. Teenagers see through fake faster than big leaguers do.
• Coach the person first. A hitter who trusts you will actually try what you teach.
• Use humor on purpose. A loose dugout plays aggressive and athletic. A tight one plays scared.
• Have a system. Growth isn’t guessing. It’s getting better at teaching one complete plan.

Here’s the honest truth: most coaches don’t get worse. They just stop getting better. They teach the same three cues they learned 20 years ago, and they wonder why today’s kids don’t respond. The game changed. The kids changed. The coach has to change, too.

That last one is why I built the AHD Coach Certification. Every coach I respect is still learning. If you want one complete way to build hitters across the 4 Pillars, start with the free first lesson of AHD Coach Foundations.

5. What Does This Mean for Young Hitters?

Hitters evolve too, or they get passed. The swing that got you through 14U won’t get you through a college fall. The approach that worked against 75 won’t work against 90.

The hitters who keep climbing are the ones who keep adjusting. New pitch, new level, new body, new plan. Talent at 15 is a head start, not a guarantee.

"Two choices: A. Do everything in your control. B. Anything but A." Murph didn’t control the heart attack, but he controlled what came after it. You don’t control the pitcher. You control your work, your prep and your next pitch.

Keep building all 4 Pillars of a Complete Hitter: The Swing, Strength & Explosiveness, the Hitting Processor and the Mental Approach. Not one of them is ever “done.” Run SwingChecker™ free to find the one that needs you most right now.

"It's a great day to be you!!" Show up every day like you belong. Energy is a choice, and so is getting better.

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THELESSON.

• Stay a student of the game
• Be real, every day
• Coach the person first
• Control what you can

Complete Hitters Are Built…Earned.

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Want to go deeper? Read I Love This 2026 Milwaukee Brewers Team! and Kevin Long: Not Just a Great Hitting Coach. A Winner..

Quick answers

Sources: Tyler Kepner, The Athletic: How the Brewers’ Pat Murphy, with humor and humanity, evolved into a World Series champion (Oct. 30, 2026) · CNN: Brewers win first World Series title in franchise history (Oct. 28, 2026) · Wikipedia: Pat Murphy (baseball manager) · MLB.com: Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy has heart attack (Aug. 2020) · MLB.com: Murphy returns to Brewers after heart attack

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Complete Hitters Aren’t Born. They’re Built… and Earned.