“It sets the bar very high for every team every year, but it’s a great challenge to have,” he says. “I’m not sure we came in with that specific goal, but we’re especially proud as a staff and as players of that.”
Murphy’s players appreciate their coach’s willingness to look out for them.
“I have a fifth year of eligibility, and I’m coming back next year mainly because he’s that kind of guy who will do anything for his athletes,” adds senior defensive tackle Josué Ortiz. “In the spring when I’m taking off, he’s offered me a job. He helps me out with any problem I have. I always feel like I can go to him.”
For Murphy, recruiting the right kind of player is an important aspect of building up that sense of community.
“The recruiting formula was, ‘Find kids with great character,’” Murphy says. “If you can, find some kids who have had some adversity in their life, because my experience has been that those are the type of kids that are really going to maximize their potential...The more diversity you have, you seem to have an intangible strength that is unique.”
The atmosphere and attitude the coach has instilled in his program became especially apparent this year, when a slew of early-season injuries to key players could have derailed the season. But despite the setbacks, Harvard was in the title hunt into the second-to-last week of the season.
“We played with our third-string quarterback for almost half the season, but during that time [Murphy] was definitely preaching...how guys have to step up,” says senior defensive tackle Chuks Obi. “The team as a whole had to have a positive mental attitude. I think that helped.”
Murphy’s success with the Crimson football program has earned him numerous honors—including a nod as the American Football Monthly Division I-AA National Coach of the Year in 2004, an invitation to join the USO coaches’ tour last May, and an appointment to the American Football Coaches’ Association’s board of trustees, where he currently serves as second vice president.
“At one point, you’re 30 years old and the youngest head coach in the country, and you wake up and you’re 54 years old, and you’re not that kid anymore,” he explains. “So you do feel an obligation to help in any way that you can when you’re asked.”
But despite the attention, the titles, and the respect he has earned in his 17 years at Harvard, Murphy’s heart still lies with his family—both his wife and kids at home and the dozens of players on his roster. Fittingly, his favorite moment with the Crimson involves both sides of that family.
“I’m fighting my way across to shake hands with [Penn coach Al] Bagnoli,” Murphy says of the 2001 victory over the Quakers, which guaranteed Harvard a share of the Ivy title. “It’s just a mob of people, so I’m not having an easy time getting there, and somebody stomps hard down on my shoe. I look around, and it’s my eight-year-old son, and he had the biggest smile on his face...It’s just one of those never-forget moments.”
Although tomorrow’s game may not bring another title, with a chance to secure a perfect 4-0 record against Yale for his seniors, it could bring Murphy another unforgettable moment.
—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.