Patrick Murphy shares the message that Nate Oats gave Alabama softball ahead of WCWS

During Alabama‘s run to the Final Four, Patrick Murphy talked to the team about Mudita — “vicarious joy through your teammates’ success.” The message clearly worked as the Crimson Tide began to rattle off wins in the regular season and eventually found success in the postseason.

Ahead of the Women’s College World Series, Nate Oats returned the favor. Murphy revealed the men’s basketball coach spoke to the softball team over the phone, talking about the similarities between the two program’s seasons.

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“He stepped away from one of his daughter’s birthday parties to call us and say ‘This is the same thing as us.’ I knew that all year long, I just had that feeling,” Murphy said.

Neither Oats nor Murphy saw their team have bad regular seasons by any means. For a good chunk of the season, Alabama was in the hunt for a basketball regular season championship but the wheels slightly fell off at the end of the year. An early SEC Tournament exit only added to the issues heading into the NCAA Tournament.

For softball, they finished with a losing record in the SEC and were bounced in the first round of the tournament. Not exactly the standard Murphy has brought to Tuscaloosa over the past nearly three decades.

Even so, both were put in good positions in the NCAA Tournament, earning a four-seed in basketball and having the chance to host a regional for softball. This led to runs to the Final Four and Women’s College World Series, the pinnacle of their respective sports.

Oats’ squad came up just short against the eventual national champions, UConn. Softball is hoping for a slightly different ending, attempting to win their second-ever national championship.

Murphy even went one step forward, talking about the season Alabama had on the gridiron under Nick Saban. Early season struggles meant a lot of doubters were around. But wins began to stack up and against all odds, Alabama made the College Football Playoff.

A blueprint drawn out in football season only to be replicated by men’s basketball and softball.

“Even Coach Saban’s last year. They play a tough game, they don’t play well vs. South Florida, everybody says the sky is falling. And then they just started to improve. It really has mirrored our season. Football first, basketball second, and then softball third,” Murphy said.