FC Buffalo co-owner Nick Mendola announced Wednesday morning that the Blitzers have hired Brendan Murphy as the semi-pro soccer club’s new head coach.

Murphy is currently the head assistant at the University at Buffalo and director of coaching for the Amherst Soccer Association. A goalkeeper in college at St. Lawrence University (D-III), he backstopped the Saints to a 22-0-0 record and a Division III National Championship title in 1999. He briefly played professional soccer in Michigan and Ohio before coaching under Dermot McGrane, Rudy Pompert and David Hesch locally.

“I have a passion for this game, a love for this city and I believe in the vision that this club has set forth,” said Murphy, who lives in Amherst with his wife Jessica and children Nora (1) and newborn Lincoln. “I have been following the progress of FC Buffalo closely for the last three years and I think this group of owners has been doing an outstanding job. I have seen incredible growth in the organization as well as the die-hard fan base they have helped to cultivate.

A word from one of Murphy’s former players while he served as an assistant under Rudy Pompert at Buffalo State: “I’ve never worked so hard for a coach without actually realizing how hard I was working.” Even though practices were littered with pushups for mistakes, Murphy seems to know how to get his players to buy-in.

The announcement comes almost exactly two months after the Blitzers’ previous head coach, Dan Krzyzanowicz, was not invited to return. FC Buffalo ended Coach K’s tenure with a record of six wins, five ties and 13 losses, a record that signaled it was time for a new gaffer.

While Murphy certainly has the credentials of an emerging professional head coach—he’s in his early 30s and already owns a USSF A coaching license—perhaps the most impressive anecdote was Murphy’s trip to South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, where he delivered soccer gear to one of the most dangerous and poorest regions of the country.

A few other names rumored as candidates were Dermot McGrane from Canisius and Gavin McInerney from the Rochester Lancers, and the team interviewed six total candidates for the coveted position.

Tryout dates will be announced soon for the Blitzers, the report on the team’s website noted. Murphy is the club’s third coach, succeeding both Jim Hesch (one season) and Krzyzanowicz (two seasons).