Career
He played hurling with his local club Rathnure and with the Wexford senior inter-county team in the 1970s and early 1980s. Coaching career
He retired from playing and became a manager due to a shoulder injury received during practice for the 1979 Wexford county title. While coaching Rathnure, Murphy also worked as a construction worker for Dublin company Collen Construction.
He had hoped to become manager of the senior Wexford team in 2001 when Tony Dempsey stepped down, but he was not considered for the post.
By the end of 2004, he had accumulated 77 titles at different level of hurling. He became senior hurling manager for Wexford at the end of 2004, replacing John Conran, who he had played with at Rathnure.
He was reappointed for the 2006 season, but decided to retire before the 2007 season after a 25-year-long hurling career.