The team jackets are new. 

The paint on the lockers is fresh. 

The whiteboard, mounted on a gorgeous sheet of tempered glass, is unmarked.

The Totino-Grace locker room has been given a facelift, and guiding the improvements is new head coach Brian Murphy. 

“We’re beyond excited about the opportunity,” Murphy said of taking the reins in his first high school coaching job.

“Everybody at the school, in admissions, in the athletic department has been first-class,” Murphy continued. “We’re looking forward to getting started with a wonderful group of kids and parents.”

A wonderful group to be sure, but it will be nearly an entirely new crop of players suiting up this season for the Eagles. 

Sixteen seniors have departed, and Murphy and his staff are now tasked with building a team from nearly the ground up in his first season at the high school level. 

“At Totino-Grace, we don’t have a feeder program,” Murphy said. 

“We don’t have five kids coming up every year from association teams.”

Despite not having an affiliated pipeline to Minnesota’s young talent, former Totino-Grace coach Mark Loahr turned the Eagles into a state power during the late 1990s and early 2000s, earning the Class 1A state championship in 2002. 

Loahr amassed 537 wins in his 33 seasons behind the bench for the Eagles, and in addition to the 2002 state title won five section crowns. 

Following a decorated coach doesn’t bother Murphy, who made his bones at the Bantam AA level by winning two state championships in five seasons with Minnetonka. 

“For me, it’s about affecting kids’ lives in a positive manner and making these kids better people,” Murphy said. 

“When you focus on building a fun environment where these kids can come to the rink every day and be happy to be a part of the program…that’s what it’s about for me.”

The Bantam AA theme continues with Murphy’s stable of assistants, as Adam Sharratt joins the Eagles’ staff after a solid stint with the Elk River program. 

To offset the lack of de facto feeder program numbers, Murphy said that he’ll embrace the dearth of talented athletes already at Totino-Grace. 

“I’m a huge advocate of multi-sport athletes these days,” Murphy said, citing the Eagles’ top-ranked boys’ soccer team and perennial power football squad. 

“I think it makes you a better athlete in the long run (and) I think it makes you more of a complete person.”

Without the built-in benefit of teaching at the school affording Murphy a high level of visibility in Totino-Grace circles, Murphy says that he plans on making appearances at both soccer and football games. 

“We want these kids to see us in the stands, and (we want) to be in the community and support them.”