Elsie Murphy: making her mark in a male-dominated world

LOGAN — Elsie Murphy is a senior at Utah State University who has spent her college career networking, proving herself and moving up in the USU Athletics Department.

Originally from Smithfield, Murphy was asked to be the water girl for her high school football team. She accepted the position with one thought in mind: a front-row seat to the games.

She grew up playing and loving sports. But her plan was never to come to Utah State. In high school, she made plans to attend a different college. When the high school football coach called Utah State Athletics to recommend her for a job, she decided to change her future plans.

“They got a hold of me and invited me up to some practices,” Murphy said. “I did spring ball my senior year of 2019, and I got offered a job right out of high school. I’ve been here ever since and I love it.”

Murphy worked on the equipment team for USU football for four years and was recently promoted to a position on the coaches staff.

There are significantly less women working in the sports industry than men. For Murphy, it hasn’t all come easy. She said she has felt pressure to succeed and perform because she is working in a male–dominated industry. She needed to prove herself more than others may have.

“I have been in positions where you’re treated a certain way because you’re a woman, and it was more of just a motivation,” she said. “I knew that it wasn’t because I was a woman. It was just an excuse because I was fighting success. And honestly, that just pushed me more because I wanted to prove people wrong.”

In her new position as an administrative assistant, Murphy works in various areas helping with recruiting, player logistics, travel plans and tours. Her hard work has helped her make a name for herself with those working in the department.

Head football coach Blake Anderson spoke highly of Murphy and her work ethic.

“Elsie is one of the most positive, upbeat, pleasant people that I’ve ever been around in my career,” he said. “She doesn’t take a lazy step ever, hustles and runs and jogs and sprints everywhere she goes and does it with a smile. She works extremely hard in every aspect and takes a lot of pride in any job that you give her.”

This attitude prompted Anderson to promote Murphy, without having an official role picked out for her.

“I like those kinds of people, and I saw her being an asset to us in our program,” he said. “I didn’t know exactly what her role would be but wanted to move her upstairs onto our staff. From day one, even really not even having a job description. Just, she just jumped in with both feet went to work.”

Murphy has grown comfortable with the players, coaches and her coworkers. In the beginning, that wasn’t the case.

“It was intimidating. I came in as an 18-year-old out of high school. That was probably the most intimidating, stressful thing I ever did,” she said. “A lot of people would stick their necks out for me. But what kept me going — and I would give advice to women wanting to do this is — if you love it, stay with it.”

She described how hard she pushed herself to make a good impression. She knew it would be hard — especially as a woman — and wanted to be treated just like everyone else. She expected preconceived notions from those around her, but her hard work is what set her apart.

“It was never players and coaches. It’s a lot of outside people that make prejudgments,” she said. “I had to prove myself. My dad always told me respect goes both ways. You have to respect them for them to respect you. I walked in with the attitude that if I wanted respect, I had to earn it just like anybody else.”

For Murphy, this position and the people around her mean more than just any sports team. She expressed how deeply she cares about the work and how it’s helped her succeed.

“She was kind of like my go– to– person for everything on the field,” said special teams analyst Bobby Dodd. “She always got everything done before it needed to be done. You could just tell that it mattered, you know, like she cared a lot.”

Murphy credits her success to her positive attitude and the people supporting her along the way.

“I could not do what I have done without those men downstairs with me, those nine equipment managers and my boss. Truthfully, I could not have done what I did without them because there are definitely jobs I was not physically able to do,” she said. “I appreciate them more than anything. They drove me and pushed me to be the person I am today.”

Austin Albrecht, USU Football’s director of player development and community engagement, works directly with Murphy in her new position. He described her visible success and believes it has set her up for a successful future as well.

“It’s a pretty hard world to break into. The more people you know, the better chances you are of having a good job in this world. And she’s done everything correctly,” he said. “Right now it’s very unique for Elsie. She’s in three different areas, three different roles, making a name for herself. She’s hit the ground running. She’s doing everything right.”

This male–dominated world may be hard to break into, but people like Murphy are proving that women can do it just as well as anybody.

“It’s 99.9% male industry. It’s a sport played by men and predominantly coached by men, but you’re starting to see more and more females break in, in different roles. In her case, she stood out for all the right reasons,” Anderson said. “I’ve seen a lot of females have tremendous impacts in football, and Elsie’s got the kind of personality do the same thing.”

Murphy is looking forward to a long career in football, making her mark on USU and the sports industry as a motivated, hard-working woman.

“Honestly it is a huge honor. It’s not something that I thought would ever happen,” she said. “I love the people. I love the players. I love the coaches. I love my job. Football was never plan A, but it turned into my only plan. Football is and always will be my happy place.”