Dismay over arrest of Archbishop Carroll athletic director

The first indication that something was amiss came Friday afternoon, when Fran Murphy, Archbishop Carroll's athletic director and baseball coach, did not join his players for a Catholic League Blue Division game at Archbishop Wood.

"We had no idea what was going on at the time," Wood coach Jim DiGuiseppe Jr. said. "Later, when we found out, it pretty much stunned all of us. It came out of left field."

Murphy, athletic director at the Radnor Township school since 1999, was arrested Friday morning and charged with seeking sexual favors from an underage boy, a former student at the school, in exchange for such gifts as sneakers and other athletic gear, Montgomery County officials said Monday.

Murphy, 39, also served as the football team's offensive coordinator, working with head coach Dan Bielli, who recently resigned.

According to Al Thompson, a former strength and conditioning coach with Carroll's football squad, word of Murphy's arrest began to spread on Facebook by Friday night.

"You're at a loss for words," said Thompson, a 1970 Carroll graduate who worked with the football team for seven years before stepping away because of health issues in late 2008.

"The athletic program has had a lot of success over the years, especially lately. Now we have this insanity hanging over us."

The Catholic League joined the PIAA for the 2008-09 school year. In the first basketball season, the Carroll boys' and girls' squads captured state championships at the Class AAA level.

In doing so, Carroll became just the seventh school in state history - and the first from this area - to win both the boys' and girls' basketball crowns in the same year.

In the recently completed season, the Carroll girls went 23-8 and advanced to the Class AAAA final before bowing to Mount Lebanon. The Carroll boys were runners-up to Neumann-Goretti in the Catholic League for the second straight year.

Bielli, who stepped down last month after posting a 98-55 record over 12 seasons, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

From 2000 to 2002, with Murphy calling the shots on offense, the Patriots won three consecutive Catholic League Blue Division titles. In 2002, while averaging 44.9 points per game (and twice scoring 70-plus points), they went 13-0 and notched eight shutouts.

Murphy also served under Bielli, a health and physical education teacher at Carroll, at now-defunct Kennedy-Kenrick, in Norristown, in 1996 and 1997.

"Fran was brilliant as an offensive coordinator," said Thompson, 58. "He was the brains behind the offense. He came up with some brilliant plays."

On Monday, Archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna Farrell said Murphy, who was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, had passed all required criminal background checks and child-abuse clearances.

Murphy, of Bryn Mawr, was being held at the Montgomery County prison on $250,000 cash bail.

"I'm shocked and dismayed," Neumann-Goretti baseball coach Lou Spadaccini said. "It's a black eye for the Catholic League. Outside of this, he seemed like a pretty good guy."

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Murphy had recruited the student at a football camp in ninth grade to attend Carroll. The youth left the school for financial reasons, she said.

The Rev. Edward Casey, Carroll's president, was Murphy's assistant on the diamond. He has taken over as interim coach. Casey could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Friday in Warminster, with Casey in charge, the Patriots (4-4 overall, 3-2 league) bowed to Wood, 9-3. On Monday, hours after news about the charges against Murphy broke, they earned a 7-6 home triumph over Conwell-Egan.

"I feel terrible for the kids," Spadaccini said. "But Father Casey is one of the best guys I've ever been around. The team will probably come back strong."

After taking over for Frank Allison, Murphy guided Carroll to four Catholic League crowns: in 1999, 2001, '02, and '04.

"Fran was a very good baseball coach," DiGuiseppe said. "He was competent, and his kids responded to him."

Murphy coached several Division I baseball recruits, including 2002 graduate Mike Costanzo, a star third baseman who went on to Coastal Carolina and is now playing double-A ball for the Carolina Mudcats.

"It's the saddest day I can remember at Archbishop Carroll, and I was there on Day 1," said Thompson, who was part of the school's first graduating class.