Tim Murphy retires from Harvard

Football’s Murphy Announces Retirement After 30 Seasons at Helm

Story LinksCAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football, announced his retirement today, following 30 years of leading the Crimson program.

"Harvard University has been a very special place for my family and me," Murphy said. "I am graduating from a profession that has not only been my job, but other than my family and close friends, it has been my passion and my life for the past 45 years.

"It has been an incredible honor to be the football coach at Harvard, and I am forever grateful to have been blessed to work with so many amazing people starting with the 1,000 student-athletes and 80-plus assistant coaches during our tenure here," Murphy added. "Sometimes, at the end of your career someone will ask, 'Do you have any regrets?' And my simple answer is no, because in any endeavor, any relationship, if you give it absolutely everything you have, there can be no regrets."

Murphy, who leaves the Crimson as the all-time winningest coach in Ivy League and school history, served as head coach for 37 seasons overall, with stops at Maine (two seasons) and Cincinnati (five seasons) before guiding Harvard to unprecedented success over the last 30 years.

"Harvard has 150 years of football history and Tim Murphy led the most successful era of its entirety in his 30 seasons," said Erin McDermott, The John D. Nichols '53 Family Director of Athletics. "His name will forever be linked with Harvard Football in an exalted manner because of the sustained team success, coaching milestones achieved and the measure of his character and work ethic. Coach Murphy changed Ivy League football upon his entry, and we are all better for it. Harvard is grateful for his service and leadership, and I am grateful to have experienced these last few seasons with him."

When Murphy took control of the program ahead of the 1994 campaign, the Crimson had not won more than eight games since the 1919 squad was victorious nine times (9-0-1). After laying a foundation of success in his first three seasons, Year 4 proved fruitful as Murphy led the Crimson to a 9-1 record and the 1997 Ivy League championship.

The winning and the titles were a prelude of what was to come over the next 26 years. Murphy guided the Crimson to .500-or-better seasons 23 times, including perfect campaigns in 2001 (9-0), 2004 (10-0) and 2014 (10-0), which helped him become the first Harvard coach since the Ivy was formed in 1956, to have three unbeaten and untied seasons. With the success came the conference championships and Murphy coached the Crimson to nine more Ivy titles following the initial one in 1997. Harvard was crowned Ivy League champions in 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2023, with the final title matching the conference record for most championships by a head coach.

Murphy, who was a five-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award (top FCS coach) and eight-time New England Coach of the Year, coached 15 Associated Press All-Americans, 158 All-Ivy League First-Team selections, 11 Ivy Players of the Year, seven Ivy Rookies of the Year, and 17 Academic All-Americans, all while helping more than 30 Crimson sign NFL contracts.

A past president and trustee of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Murphy finished his Harvard career with an overall record of 200-89 (.692), including a 141-65 (.684) mark against Ivy League competition and a 19-10 (.655) performance in The Game, the Crimson's annual rivalry tilt vs. Yale. For his complete coaching career, Murphy posted an overall record of 224-132-1 (.629).

A national search for Murphy's successor will begin immediately.