Fr. Bill Murphy: Xavier Athletics' Most Valuable 'Pray-er'

Mar 10, 2023

Fr. Bill Murphy believes he has “the most interesting job on campus.”

Fans of Xavier’s men’s basketball team, which pulled off a thrilling BIG EAST quarterfinal win over DePaul on Thursday, might be wondering, “Who’s the priest sitting on the bench?”

As Chaplain for Xavier Athletics, he likens his life to the hit HBO reality series “Hard Knocks,” known for its deep-diving approach into the lives of NFL athletes.

“I hear the film-room talks; I’m on the sidelines; I live in Kuhlman Hall (on campus), so I see the students at home all the time,” Murphy said. “My life is ‘Hard Knocks’ all day long with those inside views.”

Fr. Murphy joined Xavier in July 2022 to take on this brand-new role, charged with providing spiritual, personal and leadership development for the 330 student-athletes comprising Xavier’s 19 NCAA Division l sports teams.

Many facets make up the role, including counseling student-athletes on campus, accompanying them for competitions both near and far, and educating them on what it means to be part of a Jesuit Catholic institution.

His work background made Fr. Murphy a perfect candidate to become Xavier Athletics’ chaplain. From 2015 to 2022, he worked for the Midwest Jesuit Province’s vocations team, helping prospective Jesuit novices understand God’s call. Before that, he led Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio as its president for six years.

Now that he’s at Xavier, Murphy said he’s looking forward to growing this role over the next several years and learning which methods work best for developing Musketeer athletes.

For a Xavier Athletics Chaplain, Each Day is Unique

As one might expect from a man of the cloth, Murphy’s day always begins with prayer — not for wins, but for them to achieve their vocation.

“I think God is indifferent to whether the last-second shot goes in,” he said. “Our job as educators is to say, ‘What are we called to do?’ The only thing we can control is what happens next, so what are we called to do next? I pray for that, whatever happens, we make good on accepting God’s grace.”

While Murphy’s days always start the same way, there are limitless possibilities for what happens next.

He might be traveling to Louisville with the baseball team; he might be on the sidelines of a men’s or women’s soccer game; he might even be introducing golfers over the PA system at the Xavier Invitational, as he did in October.

One thing is for certain: he will be there when Musketeer student-athletes need him.

Fr. Murphy’s Law: “First, Show Up”

Immediately after stepping foot on campus, Murphy said he quickly learned a simple but important lesson.

“First, show up,” he said. “That’s the primary thing you have to do.”

Murphy manifests his ministerial commitment in many ways. He loves to host dinners, saying he’s cooked for roughly half of Xavier’s student-athletes already (his enormous Crockpot comes in handy for that).

He also works hard to connect the dots between athletics and the Jesuit tradition in a way that relates to college athletes.

For example, he’ll tell them about the book “It Takes What it Takes” by the late sports psychologist Trevor Moawad, who worked with professional athletes like NFL quarterback Russell Wilson and MLB pitcher Marcus Stroman. He breaks down Moawad’s words and how his approach to performance helped his athletes succeed.

“And then I’ll say, ‘Oh, and by the way, Ignatius of Loyola said the exact same thing 500 years ago.”

Murphy said he believes the Xavier community must understand how people like St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, or St. Francis Xavier, one of his closest friends and namesake of the University, continue to inform Xavier’s mission and why the history of the Jesuits of the last half-millennium still matters for today’s students.

The Mission of a Xavier Athletics Chaplain

With his presence, Murphy aims to contribute to educating student-athletes on the importance of Jesuit education while also giving them tools to use in their everyday lives.

Given that mission, Murphy makes himself as available to students as possible — following through on his principle of “showing up.” He often hosts gatherings at his on-campus residence, and he maintains an open-door policy at his office in the Heidt Family Champions Center, a facility known as Xavier’s own “Olympic Village.”

When students — or coaches, for that matter — come to chat with Murphy, it could be as simple as catching up, or it could be that they’re struggling to deal with a recent injury, or they want to talk about their academics, or they need guidance on their relationship with God.

Regardless, Murphy said he appreciates the privilege of interacting with the students, coaches, staff, and administrators that make up the Xavier Athletics department.

And while he’s had several fun experiences — such as traveling to New York with men’s basketball, watching junior golfer Emma McMyler at an LPGA tournament this past summer, or appearing as a guest on education professor Thomas Knestrict’s podcast — he said the most energizing thing is being part of someone’s faith-based epiphany.

“There are days where God’s grace is so obvious in people’s lives,” he said. “Somebody just has an ‘I get it’ moment and the lightbulb goes on.

“You live for those days.”