Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy Retires

After 30 years in charge of the Harvard Crimson, head coach Tim Murphy has decided to retire. Murphy won or shared 10 Ivy League titles in his 30 years and finished with a winning record in 21 seasons.

Murphy’s coaching career began at Maine in 1987 where he went 15-8 overall in two seasons including a playoff appearance in his first season. He parlayed that success to become head coach of Cincinnati from 1989 through 1993. Although Murphy struggled at the I-A level (now FBS) with a 17-37-1 record he ended on a high note going 8-3 in 1993.

Murphy returned to the FCS level in 1994 to take over at Harvard. The start to his Harvard tenure wasn’t great as Murphy went 10-20 overall in his first three seasons. In 1997, Harvard went 9-1 overall and won the Ivy League title outright with a 7-0 record. It was also the first time Harvard went unbeaten and untied in Ivy League competition.

After the 1997 team, Harvard regressed 14-16 in the next three seasons but that was only temporary. A new era of Harvard football began in 2001 with an incredible stretch of success as the Crimson did not have a losing season between 2001 and 2016. In that stretch, Harvard won or shared 8 Ivy League titles and went 130-29 overall (93-19 in the Ivy League).

While Harvard wasn’t as dominant after 2016, they were still a formidable team in the Ivy League. Murphy’s tenure at Harvard ended fittingly as Harvard shared the 2023 Ivy League title with Yale and Dartmouth. During his time at Harvard, Murphy went 200-89 overall and 138-65 in the Ivy League. For his career, Murphy went 232-134-1. He retires as the winningest coach in Harvard and Ivy League history.

Photo Credit to Harvard University Athletics