Even the generally understated Murphy was blunt about it.

“The bottom line is that Yale made them very lucrative offers financially along with titles,” he wrote in an email.

It was just that simple.

And better still, these coaches—Reno included—find themselves in a win-win situation. If Yale suddenly leapfrogs to the top of the Ivy League standings, then they’re all geniuses, cut from the same cloth as legendary Yale coach Carm Cozza. If not, well, they haven’t had the time to grow their own talent, or they lost Pat Witt, or they’re still just learning. Or something like that.

But in luring away almost half of the Crimson coaching staff, Yale and Reno made an explicit decision. Clearly, the Bulldogs couldn’t crack the Murphy enigma. The 18-year Crimson coach has beaten Yale like a drum. And the Bulldogs have tried everything from new coaches to fake punts. Nothing has helped Yale’s cause. So how do you knock down the champ?

Blindside him.  Do something he would never expect. There’s no ref to call this one, so go on, hit him below the belt! Maybe that will send him reeling.

And then go for the knockout blow.

Did Yale’s uppercut finally hit? Could Reno and the Bulldogs—along with the graduation of the Harvard’s talented senior class—have TKOed Murphy and the Crimson, ending the Golden Age of modern-era Harvard football?

Don’t count on it.

Under the winningest coach in Crimson history, with different players and assistant coaches cycling through at a rapid clip, Harvard just keeps on winning.

With Murphy still at the helm and a host of current and future stars returning, don’t expect things to change in 2012. It’ll take more than a few cheap shots to steal away that championship belt.

—Staff writer Robert S. Samuels can be reached at robertsamuels@college.harvard.edu.