Brewers Reportedly Hire Pat Murphy as Bench Coach

The Milwaukee Brewers began remaking their coaching staff last week with the reported hiring of Derek Johnson as pitching coach, and it appears we can new add a new member to Craig Counsell's crew for 2016. It was reported by brewerfan.net's Jim Goulart earlier this morning that the Brewers have hired Pat Murphy to serve as the team's bench coach in the dugout.

Not sure when #Brewers official confirmation will come, but it will, and to no surprise, Pat Murphy has agreed to be Counsell's bench coach.

— Jim Goulart (@Mass_Haas) October 26, 2015

Murphy comes to the Brewers from San Diego, where he has been employed in various capacities since 2010. He began as a special assistant to baseball operations, and also managed at the short-season A and AAA levels. Murphy was named as the Padres manager on June 16th and the Padres went 42-54 under his direction. The Padres finished the season 74-88 overall, a disappointing finish after expectations being set so high in light of AJ Preller's flurry of activity last winter. The team announced they wouldn't be bringing Murphy back as manager for 2016.

Prior to working in the professional ranks, Murphy was a highly successful coach at the collegiate level. His stops included Arizona State and Notre Dame, where he coached the current Brewers' skipper. That relationship led to speculation that Murphy would join Counsell's staff all the way back in May, though San Diego refused to grant an interview before promoting Murphy to the big leagues from within their own ranks.

The 56 year old Murphy pitched one season in the minors for the Padres and two seasons in the Northwest League during (without much success) the mid 1980s.

Murphy was immediately linked to the Brewers' coaching staff opening as soon as San Diego let him go, though the club has yet to officially confirm the hire.

UPDATE:

The San Diego Union Tribune has confirmed the Pat Murphy hiring.