Sailors name Murphy

Newport Harbor High’s new baseball coach is no stranger to the playoffs.

In 13 years on the varsity level as a head coach or assistant, he has missed the postseason three times.

The Sailors haven’t been so successful in reaching the playoffs. Next season marks 20 years since the last time Newport Harbor qualified for the playoffs.

Principal Michael Vossen turned to a proven winner to move the program in a different direction, naming Patrick Murphy as the new coach Friday.

Murphy, 31, was the pitching coach at Los Alamitos the past two seasons, the first one the Griffins won the Sunset League championship. He coached highly-touted pitchers Beau Wright and Kyle Simon, who next season are slated to throw for UC Irvine and Arizona, respectively.

“His references were outstanding,” Vossen said was the reason why he decided to hire Murphy after community members, coaches and parents praised Murphy.

Murphy takes over for Evan Chalmers, who was fired in June after going 36-62-1 in four years. The Sailors failed to place better than fourth in league during Chalmers’ time.

Murphy understands there is a lot of work ahead at Newport Harbor. Being familiar with the Sunset League can only help.

On the field, the Sailors have struggled. The Sailors went 9-16, 5-10 in league, tying Los Alamitos for fourth place.

Off the field, the situation at Newport Harbor isn’t the most ideal for Murphy. The school only managed to offer Murphy a part-time academic support position.

Murphy said he’s a credentialed special education teacher.

“I would like to see something fall in that category,” said Murphy, adding he’s been teaching special education for nine years.

“For me this is a good opportunity to be at a high school that has a fantastic reputation and it’s a place I can enjoy for the rest of my career.”

Murphy has also been an assistant at Mater Dei and Cypress, twice serving one-year stints as head coach at other schools.

Murphy’s last head coaching job was at Valley Christian in Cerritos in 2007. The program finished 20-10, advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs, and enjoyed a 13-game improvement from the previous year.

While at Magnolia in 2002, Murphy said he took a two-win team and turned it into a 15-game winner. Murphy said he decided to leave after one year to return as an assistant at his alma mater Cypress, which went on to claim the CIF Southern Section Division II title in 2005.

Murphy said teams he’s been involved with have won eight league championships in 13 years. Success is all he knows.

As far as the athletic director situation at Newport Harbor, Murphy wasn’t familiar with it.

“I think it’s beneficial for me not to know what happened,” Murphy said of the friction caused at Newport Harbor after Eric Tweit was fired after 20 years as athletic director and Fletcher Olson resigned after sharing the duties with Tweit the past 10 years.

“This is a clean slate and I’m excited about the future.”

Newport Harbor hopes the future includes the playoffs.