Mike Murphy joins Pine Manor College in 2010 as head volleyball coach, bringing more than 20 years of coaching and playing experience in the sport. He has spent the past decade coaching both women’s and men’s volleyball in the Boston area at various levels, including intercollegiate and high school varsity teams.
Most recently, Murphy spent four years serving as the girls’ varsity head coach at Waltham High School. Here his Hawks improved in four consecutive seasons from 2004-2007, when Waltham went a perfect 14-0 in winning a Greater Boston League Championship and returning to the state tournament for the second straight season.
Prior to Waltham, Murphy built a winner even quicker as head coach of the Mass Bay Community College men's and women's teams. As Mass Bay’s inaugural head coach, he guided both teams to the playoffs in the programs’ first seasons in 2001. Murphy also served briefly as an assistant coach for the Waltham boys’ team in the late 90s.
In addition to strong performances on the court, Murphy has stressed high achievement in the classroom for his teams. The Waltham High School program responded with all three 2005 teams (varsity, JV and JV-B) earning the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Gold Level academic status. The 2005 varsity team also earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) GamePlan Team academic award for maintaining a 3.30 GPA. Many of his athletes were members of the school’s National Honor Society.
Murphy has also promoted his programs and developed websites and marketing materials for the Mass Bay and Waltham teams. His walthamvolleyball.com site won the Web category and was a finalist for the AVCA's 2005-2006 Grant Burger Media Award. The other category winners that year were all media covering NCAA Division I volleyball programs.
Murphy played at Waltham High from 1986-1988. He went on to play with numerous intramural teams at the University of Southern California, and later with competitive and recreation leagues in Massachusetts. He has also completed many clinics and courses in volleyball and coaching. These include the American Sports Education Program/NFHS/MIAA coaching course and tests as required by the MIAA. Murphy has also completed the USA Volleyball Coaching Accreditation Program Level 1 course and is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and abides by their codes of ethics.
A full-time, professional fire lieutenant with the City of Waltham Fire Department and a Massachusetts certified E.M.T., Murphy lives in Waltham with his wife, Karen, and two children, Connor and Kate. He holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California (cum laude) and also earned an associate’s degree in fire safety and technology from Middlesex Community College.