Davis, Calif. - On Tuesday, Aug. 23, the 2022 UC Davis women's soccer coaching staff was finalized when Murphy, Head Coach Tracy Hamm's pitbull mix, was quietly added to the roster as the Aggies' Student-Athlete Wellness Supporter. 

Though Murphy has been that for all of Hamm's teams over the last nine seasons, he'd never had a title and never been publicly listed as a member of a coaching staff.  

By the next day, Murphy had gone viral on Twitter and was the internet's favorite dog. 

But the Murphy Aggie fans have grown used to seeing at Aggie Soccer Field for the last three seasons almost didn't go home with Hamm when she found him at a Santa Rosa shelter.  

Hamm was in her first head coaching stop at Santa Rosa Junior College and had always wanted a dog. She went by a local shelter just to look one day. 

"Murphy sat in my lap and just stared at me and I was like 'I can't leave without this dog'," Hamm recalls now.

The shelter needed to see proof from her landlord that she was allowed to have a dog but by the time Hamm got the okay, the shelter had closed for the day. That was enough of a pause for her to wonder if she was getting in over her head committing to taking care of a puppy with a full-time head coaching gig. 

Murphy had already left his mark though. 

"I just drove past my exit and got back on the freeway and said I've got to go get him," she said. 

Murphy's indoctrination into soccer at first was a product of how much care a puppy needs combined with Hamm's busy schedule. 

"I just started bringing him everywhere with me," Hamm said.

Her office in Santa Rosa, classes, trainings, games, indoor soccer practices - the result was Murphy became comfortable being around lots of people in different environments at a young age. 

All that early socialization means Murphy rarely looks more at home than he does making his rounds before UC Davis home games and sleeping a few feet behind Hamm while she coaches.

Until Hamm arrived at UC Davis in 2019 though, Murphy had always sat in the stands and quickly picked up the timing of a soccer game. 

"After the games at San Francisco State, he knew when they were over because of the long double whistle," Hamm said. "He would sprint down the stairs in this giant stadium, along the railing, in and out of all the girls coming off the field. Everyone would get their cameras out and wait for Murphy to do his on the field run." 

Though she hadn't had him on the sideline until that 2019 season, any apprehension was quickly erased when Murphy simply walked over to the back row of the bench and slept through his first game at UC Davis. The two are nearly inseparable and now in their third season and fourth year overall, Murphy is synonymous with Aggie soccer. 

While the players on the field get support from the crowd, where Murphy has made a difference on Hamm's teams is being a silent supporter of those who have been taken away from it. Injuries and being relegated to watching the sport they've poured hours into can be an alienating experience for athletes, one every person deals with differently. Murphy has developed a habit of gravitating to those wearing leg braces or coming off the pitch needing ice packs. 

"He has a sense of what they're going through and would naturally gravitate to them," Hamm explained. "One of the worst things as a player is feeling like you're not able to contribute. I think Murphy just felt that energy and goes and lays next to players so they're not by themselves. I think that's been a huge boost to helping people stay optimistic and positive, that they're not alone - being injured can be isolating and Murph recognizes that on his own."