Frank Murphy and Eric Westmoreland have lived the dream of most any boy who ever picked up a football. Each spent time in the National Football League, Murphy as a running back and receiver and Westmoreland as a linebacker.
They’ve spent wisely and are basically set for life financially, yet both are helping coach the Baylor high school team that plays next Thursday in a second consecutive TSSAA Division II-AA state final in Cookeville.
“They bring enthusiasm and knowledge,” Baylor head coach Phil Massey said, “but I think they get instant respect from the kids because the kids know where they’ve been and how they’ve traveled.
“Eric is with the defensive staff and helps put together their game plan, and the same thing with Frank on offense. He looks at route combinations based on what defense we’ll see.
“Another big contribution is their relationships with the players,” Massey added.
And those relationships are important to each.
“My whole thing is to create a faith-based sports culture and to put more leaders than followers in the sports arena,” said Murphy, whose “Man Behind the Helmet” will be available in bookstores on Dec. 1.
In that book, Murphy writes about his life, his ups and downs that included a year of incarceration as well as being named National Junior College Athletic Association player of the year.
Drafted out of Kansas State by the Chicago Bears, Murphy also played for Tampa Bay, Houston and Miami and passed up a chance last year to go to the United Football League.
“I had an opportunity to go and accepted the job. I hung up the phone and thought, ‘You just got the job here,'” Murphy said. “I saw the kids and picked up the phone and called the general manager back and told him I wasn’t coming.”
He no longer needs the limelight to achieve personal satisfaction.
“Playing [in the NFL] was living out a dream. I remember watching Rocket Ismail return kicks and then going out in the yard and trying to imitate him,” Murphy said. “I think I’ll always miss [pro ball], but I don’t miss it enough to go against the grain. My time is past and my football satisfaction comes from coaching and my ministry.”
Westmoreland was basically a household name for Tennessee football fans. A native of Marion County and a star running back and safety during the Warriors’ 1990s heyday, he became an outstanding linebacker for the Tennessee Volunteers. From there he went to Jacksonville before finishing his NFL career in Cleveland.
Even coming off microfracture surgery to his knee, Westmoreland stayed in the league for that year in Cleveland and might have wound up elsewhere.
“It was just one of those things where the salary-cap numbers were too high along with minimum numbers for a veteran,” he said.
He never looked back and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, hooked him up with Massey, who was moving from Memphis University School to become Baylor’s head coach.
“I still enjoy being around football, and I am getting enjoyment from teaching guys what it takes to get where they want to be, whether on the field or off,” Westmoreland said. “Football is an avenue to bigger things in life.
“This job is helping me do the things I want to do.”
That would include providing the truth about sports and what that entails at the college level. It also means he has an opportunity.
“I want to help kids reach whatever level they want to reach,” Westmoreland said. “I came out of a small school and people said I couldn’t play at Tennessee or that I couldn’t do this or that. That’s one of the things that made me.
“When I played, I didn’t think a guy I played against could outplay me. There were a lot of kids that were more talented or could run faster than me, but while they were sleeping I was working. When they were playing Nintendo, I was at the track. I tell kids all the time that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
And he and Murphy, like most coaches, try to leave their players with a lasting impression.
“If you are a good teammate, your team is going to respect you. If you play hard, the other team is going to respect you,” Westmoreland said.