Frederick James Murphy (February 4, 1886 – December 19, 1956)[1] was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach and college athletics administrator. Murphy served as the head football coach at Northwestern University (1914–1918), University of Denver (1920–1922), and University of Kentucky (1924–1926), compiling a career football coaching record of 40–37–4. He was also the head basketball coach at Manhattan College (1912–1913) and at Northwestern (1914–1917), and the head baseball coach at Northwestern (1914–1916) and Kentucky (1925–1926). In addition, Murphy served as Northwestern's athletic director from 1913 to 1918.
 Murphy in 1914 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 4, 1886 Southville, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 19, 1956 (aged 70) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1907–1909 | Yale |
| Basketball | |
| c. 1910 | Yale |
| Baseball | |
| c. 1910 | Yale |
| Position(s) | Halfback (football) Guard (basketball) Center fielder (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1911 | Yale (field coach) |
| 1912–1913 | Yale (advisory coach) |
| 1914–1918 | Northwestern |
| 1920–1922 | Denver |
| 1924–1926 | Kentucky |
| Basketball | |
| 1912–1913 | Manhattan |
| 1914–1917 | Northwestern |
| Baseball | |
| 1914–1916 | Northwestern |
| 1925–1926 | Kentucky |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1913–1918 | Northwestern |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 40–37–4 (football) 36–45 (basketball) 20–31–2 (baseball) |
Playing career and family
editMurphy played football, basketball, and baseball at Yale University. He was a halfback in football, a guard in basketball, and a center fielder in baseball. Murphy was a nephew of Mike Murphy and Yale Murphy.[2]
Coaching career
editNorthwestern
editMurphy was the 12th head coach at Northwestern University and he held that position for five seasons, from 1914 until 1918. His coaching record at Northwestern was 16–16–1. This ranks him 11th at Northwestern in total wins and tenth at Northwestern in winning percentage.[3]
University of Denver
editMurphy returned to coaching in the 1920 season to coach at the University of Denver, a coaching position he held for three seasons until 1922. At Denver, he compiled a record of 12–7–2.[4] His best season at Denver was 1922, when the team's record was 6–1–1,[5] second only to his 6–1 season at Northwestern in 1916.[6]
Kentucky
editMurphy's next move was to become the head coach at the University of Kentucky from 1924 to 1926. There he compiled a record of 12–14–1.
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Purple (Western Conference / Big Ten Conference) (1914–1918) | |||||||||
| 1914 | Northwestern | 1–6 | 0–6 | 9th | |||||
| 1915 | Northwestern | 2–5 | 0–5 | 9th | |||||
| 1916 | Northwestern | 6–1 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1917 | Northwestern | 5–2 | 3–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1918 | Northwestern | 2–2–1 | 1–1 | 6th | |||||
| Northwestern: | 16–16–1 | 8–15 | |||||||
| Denver Ministers/Pioneers (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1920–1922) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Denver | 2–4 | 2–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1921 | Denver | 4–2–1 | 2–2–1 | T–4th | |||||
| 1922 | Denver | 6–1–1 | 3–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| Denver: | 12–7–2 | 7–6–2 | |||||||
| Kentucky Wildcats (Southern Conference) (1924–1926) | |||||||||
| 1924 | Kentucky | 4–5 | 2–3 | T–14th | |||||
| 1925 | Kentucky | 6–3 | 4–2 | 7th | |||||
| 1926 | Kentucky | 2–6–1 | 1–4–1 | T–19th | |||||
| Kentucky: | 12–14–1 | 7–9–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 40–37–4 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Read the eBook History of the Class of 1910, Yale College (Volume 1) by Yale University. Class of 1910 online for free (Page 11 of 17)".
- ^ "May Coach the Badgers". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. August 20, 1911. p. 20. Retrieved October 22, 2016 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ Northwestern Wildcats coaching records Archived October 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Fred Murphy All-Time Coaching records". Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ "University of Denver 1922 football statistics". Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ "Northwestern 1916 football statistics". Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2008.