Everything Patrick Murphy Said After Alabama Softball Got Eliminated in WCWS

What the Alabama head coach said, including the possibility of hiring a hitting coach next season and reflections on the legendary career of Montana Fouts.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy has taken his teams to the Women's College World Series 14 times. Team 27's season came to an end Friday night at the hands of a 2-0 shutout from Stanford. 

Here's everything Murphy had to say after the game. He addressed the possibility of hiring a hitting coach and what Montana Fouts has meant to the sport of college softball.

Full Transcript

Transcript courtesy of the NCAA

Opening statement

PATRICK MURPHY: Just want to again reiterate our thanks to everybody that put on the greatest show on dirt. Everybody from the NCAA Softball Committee, you guys have upped the ante tremendously. We absolutely love our NCAA rep, Miss Kianna, you better be here next year because we will be. You're a pleasure to work with. Everybody.

I know you do it for nothing. It's a long-time commitment for everybody on that committee, so we really do appreciate what you do for us. Just everybody in Oklahoma City. Our hotel was terrific. Everywhere there was signage with the College World Series logo. There's a lot of people downtown Oklahoma City. When they see that sign on the doors of the hotel, if there's any softball players, they come around because they want to see these two and get autographs. I think that's a tradition that's starting to really come about here, similar to Omaha.

The two young ladies from Stanford that are on the mound are terrific. It's a terrific duo that they have there now. They're just tough to square up. Kudos to them.

I don't think anybody gave us a shot in hell of being here once Montana went down in Fayetteville. I can't say enough about our team doctors, Dr. Lyle Cain, Kevin Wilk the P.T. Dr. Brett Bentley, Esi Atinkah our athletic trainer, and everybody that helped nurse her back to what she was.

I am going to miss all of our seniors tremendously. I always say you must have the bigger picture in mind in athletics because there's only one team, one team of 307 that gets to raise the trophy. What do the other 306 hold their hats on? There has to be something else, right?

It's the love for their teammates, the love for their coaches, the love for their staff, the love for the game. You're playing for something so much bigger than yourself when you play for Alabama. They're now going to be friends for life of mine, whether they like it or not.

Any time, anyplace you need me, they can call me. It's the alumni. They can't wait to get the graduated seniors into the Bama U club. I know they're excited about that.

But there has to be something bigger than just a trophy. And thankfully we have that at Alabama.

Q. Did you know that's what she was going to say when you went out there? (In reference to Montana Fouts rejected Murphy's offer of a curtain call with two outs in the seventh inning.)

PATRICK MURPHY: Yeah, I figured. That's why I ran (smiling). You know the old Jerry Maguire, when the gentleman is on the ground, he's injured, he starts to hear the roar of the crowd. He's like, Wait, wait, wait. I didn't think she'd want that. That's why I ran. I ran back out because she's like, No, that's good. I figured that was going to be the answer.

Q. (Question about team bonding.)

PATRICK MURPHY: It's getting harder and harder to coach like kind of the way I want to. This team allowed me to do it again. I tell them at the beginning of the year, We're going to take the seniors on a magic carpet ride and everybody is going to do it for 'em. We're going to end up here. It's a magic carpet ride for the senior class.

But they gave me the magic carpet ride this year. Because they bought in. They paid attention to the little things, to the details. They were great teammates. They were coachable. They showed grit. I mean, you just don't get that very often nowadays. You don't get role models, you know? Role models for other kids. They are. That's what's so cool about it, you know?

I just absolutely love that they brought back that sense of, for lack of words, Bama U. It's just been our tradition to be like this and they brought it back. I'm really, really happy.

There's no such thing as a bad day at the World Series, so I'm a happy guy.

Q. You mentioned I think a couple days ago something to the effect of this being the most gratifying season you've had as a coach. What was it about this team that makes you feel that way?

PATRICK MURPHY: I just think overcoming so many things, losses. I don't know what it was. That's probably the most losses we've had in a season, ending here. But they didn't give up. They did show grit. They showed resiliency. They showed a growth mindset.

You can preach it and preach it and preach it and preach it, say it over and over and over, and a lot of times they don't do it. This team did. That's what was so gratifying.

They were coachable. Just really good attitudes. I can't even think. I was trying to think of, like, the worst thing that happened this year. There's always things that happen. I couldn't even think of one problem that we had off the field.

The biggest issue was her injury. That's going to happen unfortunately. They were just a really, really fun team to coach. It's probably why it was so gratifying.

Q. Why is Montana Fouts a player that's worthy of a curtain call? What has her career meant?

PATRICK MURPHY: She has just been, number one, like she said, she just loves the game. She does. She absolutely loves all of it.

I've read this thing about giving all the feelings, give me anger, upset, happy, sad, all the feelings. That's what she wants in softball. Give her the heartache. Give her the triumph. She's been like that from day one.

She has the most competitive spirit I've seen in a pitcher that wears the 'A.' I mean, she's come through time and time again. You guys know this who cover us, but she can talk to an 80-year-old as easily as an eight-year-old. Not many kids can do that. Not many teenagers, not many college kids, not many adults can do that. She can. She makes everybody feel special. She takes her time with everybody.

She's just an icon in the sport. I hope to God that she gets to wear the USA uniform in 2028 in L.A. because I think that's the next time it will be in the Olympics. But she will be on the cover of every newspaper, every magazine, you name it, on the way up to the Olympics in '28, guarantee you, because she's not done with the sport by any means. You're going to see her for a long, long time.

Q. Sorry to end on a down note.

PATRICK MURPHY: Don't make me cry (smiling).

Q. More game related question. Got shut out for the first time this season.

PATRICK MURPHY: Okay, damn (smiling).

Q. We talked this year about the possibility of adding assistants, whatever. Would getting a hitting coach be a possibility in the future?

PATRICK MURPHY: I've already been told by my bosses that we will be doing that, which is really cool for us and the sport. So we'll get to add. We did have a volunteer coach, don't get me wrong. Now that person becomes a paid assistant coach, which is now legal on July 1st.

I'm very excited about that. I'm very excited about the kids we have coming in. We have a pitcher from Phoenix that was excellent. Jocelyn Briski, righty, righty. We have Jenna Johnson's little sister Lauren Johnson, who was in the crowd today. Fast, righty, righty, got some pop, really good base runner.

Ju-co first team All-American in Kendal Clark, who was like a seven-sport athlete in the state of Iowa but decided on softball in junior college. We're going to add probably a couple here in a couple weeks because now it's off-season recruiting time in the portal. We'll probably have at least two more that will join us.

I'm really excited about everybody. Hopefully we'll be back. But again, thank you. Thanks to everybody here 'cause it does mean a lot to the sport when you guys are here and you cover us 'cause that means people are going to read what you write, they're going to think it's a special sport, which it is. Thank you very much.