Missouri S&T Names Daniel Murphy As New Head Swimming Coach

Courtesy: Miner Athletics

ROLLA, Mo. – Daniel Murphy, who earned five All-America awards as a competitor during his career at Missouri S&T, is returning to the Miner swimming program as its new head coach.

Murphy is taking over the reins of the program from Doug Grooms, who retired after 24 seasons at the helm at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. Murphy is just the fifth individual to lead the program since 1953.

“I would like to thank Director of Athletics Melissa Ringhausen and the search committee for the opportunity to return to Missouri S&T to be the head men’s swimming coach,” Murphy said. “My coaching career began here, and I am thrilled to bring things full circle.  S&T is known for excellence both in and out of the pool, and I am excited to work with this great group of men to maintain that tradition and to continue to grow in the future.

“I also would like to thank my friend and predecessor at S&T, Doug Grooms, for all the support and guidance during both my swimming and coaching careers. It will be hard to follow up a legend in the Division II swimming community, but I am up for the challenge.”

“We are excited to have Daniel Murphy, a swimming alum of Missouri S&T, as our next swimming coach,” Ringhausen said.  “Daniel had an outstanding career at S&T, setting records and competing at the highest level at the NCAA Championships.  He went on to coach nationally ranked Division II student-athletes that are on high caliber teams.

“We are fortunate to have him, knowing he has experienced the challenges of attending a high-end academic institution and was able to find a balance between academics and training that led to success,” Ringhausen added.  We are looking forward to getting him back on campus and engaged with our swimming team.”

Since competing for the Miners from 2007-11 and earning five All-America awards during that time, Murphy entered the coaching ranks as a volunteer assistant coach and worked his way up the ladder before becoming the head coach of Wheeling University’s men’s and women’s program for the last two seasons.

Last season, he saw the Cardinals increase their point total at the Mountain East Conference Championships from 25 from 77 on the men’s side and scoring 209 points in the women’s meet after the program had a four-year hiatus prior to Murphy’s arrival.

Before becoming the head coach at Wheeling, Murphy spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s programs at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, where he served as the primary coach for the individual medley and distance specialty groups and worked with more than 30 student-athletes in those events

While at Nova Southeastern, he also worked directly with one national champion (Courtney DeVeny in the 400-yard individual medley in 2018), a national record holder and 26 All-America competitors.  He also helped recruit Sasha Maslova and Alessandro Xella, the 2019 Freshmen of the Year in the Sunshine State Conference, as well nine first-team all-conference performers and 12 conference record holders.

NSU’s women’s team finished third at the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships and followed that up with a fourth place showing in 2019.  Nova Southeastern won two men’s and two women’s conference titles in the SSC while he was there, while also producing 31 All-Academic performers and having four teams earn Scholar All-America honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

After his career in the pool concluded, Murphy served as a volunteer assistant for the Miners for two seasons before joining the coaching staff at Missouri State University, first as a volunteer assistant and also led the Missouri State Aquatics program during that time.  At Missouri State, he helped develop multiple conference record holders on both the men’s and women’s teams, with two individuals qualifying for the NCAA Division I National Championships.

With the Missouri State Aquatics program, he served as the primary coach for Samuel Senn, the 2015 Missouri state champion in the 100-yard freestyle and enhanced the organization’s lesson program from 15 swimmers per session to an average of 50. He also managed a staff and scheduling for 10 assistant coaches and instructors for over 135 athletes and improved the success of the program as the number of Speedo Sectional Qualifiers increased during his tenure.

As a student-athlete at Missouri S&T, Murphy earned five All-America awards and was part of two of the most successful teams in school history as the 2008 Miners finished second at the NCAA Division II Championships and the 2009 squad finished in third.  All four S&T teams that Murphy was a part of recorded top 10 finishes at the national meet in those seasons.

In 2008, Murphy finished seventh in the 400-yard individual medley, then earned three more All-America awards a year later in the 400-IM, 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle races.  His fifth All-America award came in 2010 with a 12^th place showing in the 400-IM.  During his career, he also set school records in the 400-IM and 500-yard freestyle and was a first-team all-conference performer in the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Conference.

Murphy earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies from Missouri State University.