The temperature never escaped the 30’s on that November Saturday, but Murphy probably didn’t mind the icy Gatorade shower he received at the end of the contest as he celebrated his first Ivy title.

“Nothing will ever be this special,” Murphy said that day.

Over 15 years later, a picture of his first recruiting class still sits in his office.

Since 1997, every recruiting class has won an Ivy championship at some point during its four years. Murphy has rebounded from his slow start and is now the winningest coach in Harvard history. But Penn still has his number.

The Quakers are the only Ivy squad that boasts a winning record against Murphy. Bagnoli, who started at Penn two years before Murphy arrived at Harvard, has nine Ivy rings in his office, three more than Murphy. The Crimson has come in second to the Quakers nearly as many times (five) as it’s won an Ivy title (six) under Murphy.

All that said, Murphy insists he wouldn’t trade a single victory over Yale for one against Penn.

UNDEFEATED, AND THEN WHAT?

Among the trophies that fill Murphy’s office is the Division I-AA Coach of the Year award he won in 2004 after leading the Crimson to its best record in over a century.

“To be honest, what I remember is that that was the most dominant team we’ve had,” Murphy said. “2004 was just the perfect storm: number one by far in special teams, offense, and defense. That was a team I thought was as good as anybody in the FCS in the country, and humbly so. That was a great football team.”

That year, Harvard went 10-0 for the first time since 1901, before Harvard Stadium had been built or the forward pass had been introduced. But it wasn’t easy.

The Crimson faced a 21-0 deficit hardly 10 minutes into its game against Brown in the second week of the year. But Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 led a comeback, and Harvard pulled out a 35-34 victory.

Against Dartmouth, it was the defense that triumphed on the final possession to secure a 13-12 victory.

That team included some of Murphy’s first nationally recruited players. In addition to Fitzpatrick, running back Clifton Dawson ’07 and defensive lineman Desmond Bryant ’09 both had opportunities to go to major BCS programs but opted for the Crimson instead. All three ended up playing in the NFL.

After the 2004 season, Murphy also had an opportunity to move up. Indiana University was looking for a new football coach, and they were interested in the recently named Division 1-AA Coach of the Year.

Murphy considered the offer but ultimately removed himself from the running, just as he had done after being mentioned as a candidate for other jobs.