The excitement in Michael Murphy's voice as he discussed the growth of the Essex Tech athletic program and all the buzz around the Hawks heading into another new school year was impossible to miss.
Murphy had good reason to be enthusiastic, since he'd just given his first speech to the Hawk football team not as an assistant coach but as the school's new athletic director. The 31-year-old has been a teacher and coach at Essex Tech for five years and there's no doubt he'll carry a high energy, positive approach in his new role.
"The word I keep going back to is buzz. The way the athletic program has been building up here, my number one goal is to continue that growth," said Murphy, the third AD at Essex since the school opened, following Paul Worth and Farah Lalli. "Everything coach Worth and Ms. Lalli did, I want to continue that. We have programs that are just waiting to explode and we've got great buzz and support around the school, from students and faculty both."
Murphy said working more closely with the "fantastic" coaches at Essex Tech is one of the things he's most looking forward to about his new position. Being able to build on relationships he already has with them is a big bonus.
"Essex Tech is excited to have Mike as the next Coordinator of Athletics. I have watched him interact with kids on the field and know he will do great things for our programs," Essex Tech Superintendent Director Heidi Riccio said. "I am looking forward to watching him in this new role and continuing the great work of our former Athletic Director, Farah Lalli."
The summer was a bit of a whirlwind for Murphy, who called the offensive plays for head coach Dan Connors' football team last year in the Fall 2 season and planned to do so again this year. The athletic director job opened up, though, and shortly after his wedding up in Maine he got the call that he'd be moving up the ladder.
"Administration is always something that's been on my mind as something I wanted to do and it was a matter of waiting for an opportunity to present itself," Murphy said. "I'm really looking forward to the challenge and it's been great so far. I'm learning the ins and outs of looking at things though this lens, learning how a co-op program works, things like that."
A sports loving kid growing up in Chelmsford, Murphy starred for coach Bruce Rich's football Lions and won a Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium as a senior. He went on to have a tremendous career at Endicott College, where he was an All-American wide receiver in 2012 and still has the most receiving touchdowns in program history (27).
A "double Gull" with a degree in physical education and exercise science plus his Master's in athletic administration, Murphy took a teaching job at Essex Tech after he graduated and found a home at one of the state's newest, most beautiful technical high schools.
"My first year was the second year we were open. It was still kind of merging North Shore Tech, Essex Aggie and Peabody Voke and seeing how everyone found their way and came together was fantastic," Murphy remembers. "I fell in love with the place. One of things I love most about Essex Tech is that we get to know the whole student, not just the athlete."
Philosophically, Murphy wanted to be an educator because of all the positive experiences he had with his coaches and role models growing up. From Rich and many others at Chelmsford to coach J.B. Wells and athletic director Brian Wylie at Endicott, Murphy is very grateful to the mentors who helped him get where he is today.
"Aside from my parents all those guys are the biggest influences I had. They kind of showed me the way," said Murphy, who now lives in North Reading with his wife, Sarah. "In the back of my mind, I always wanted to give back, make sure today's kids have the experience that I had."
With tryouts and practices underway for all of Essex Tech's fall sports this week, Murphy is fully immersing himself in his new role. It's a bit different asking athletes for their doctor's physicals instead of their playbooks, but he's getting used to it. He's mostly excited to dig into the nuances of administration, such as planning game day logistics, scheduling and looking at the state's new power rankings.
"I'm already feeling comfortable and I'm so thankful for the opportunity," he said. "I'm so excited to work with our great coaches and obviously, not everything is about winning and losing. We want to keep things strictly positive and keep that buzz about the Hawks going."
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