Fred J. Murphy
Quick Facts
AquariusBiography
Frederick James Murphy (February 4, 1886 – December 19, 1956) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach and college athletics administrator.Murphy served as the head football coach at Northwestern University (1914–1918), University of Denver (1920–1922), and University of Kentucky (1924–1926), compiling a career football coaching record of 40–37–4.He was also the head basketball coach at Manhattan College (1912–1913) and at Northwestern (1914–1917), and the head baseball coach at Northwestern (1914–1916) and Kentucky (1925–1926).In addition, Murphy served as Northwestern's athletic director from 1913 to 1918.
Playing career and family
Murphy played football, basketball, and baseball at Yale University.He was a halfback in football, a guard in basketball, and a center fielder in baseball.Murphy was a nephew of Mike Murphy and Yale Murphy.
Coaching career
Northwestern
Murphy was the 12th head coach at Northwestern University and he held that position for five seasons, from 1914 until 1918.His coaching record at Northwestern was 16–16–1.This ranks him 11th at Northwestern in total wins and tenth at Northwestern in winning percentage.
University of Denver
Murphy returned to coaching in the 1920 season to coach at the University of Denver, a coaching position he held for three seasons until 1922.At Denver, he compiled a record of 12–7–2.His best season at Denver was 1922, when the team's record was 6–1–1, second only to his 6–1 season at Northwestern in 1916.
Kentucky
Murphy's next move was to become the head coach at the University of Kentucky from 1924 to 1926. There he compiled a record of 12–14–1.
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Purple (Western Conference / Big Ten Conference) | |||||||||
| 1914 | Northwestern | 1–6 | 0–6 | 9th | |||||
| 1915 | Northwestern | 2–5 | 0–5 | 9th | |||||
| 1916 | Northwestern | 6–1 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1917 | Northwestern | 5–2 | 3–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1918 | Northwestern | 2–2–1 | 1–1 | 6th | |||||
| Northwestern: | 16–16–1 | 8–15 | |||||||
| Denver Pioneers (Rocky Mountain Conference) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Denver | 2–4 | 2–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1921 | Denver | 4–2–1 | 2–2–1 | T–4th | |||||
| 1922 | Denver | 6–1–1 | 3–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| Denver: | 12–7–2 | 7–6–2 | |||||||
| Kentucky Wildcats (Southern Conference) | |||||||||
| 1924 | Kentucky | 4–5 | 2–3 | T–14th | |||||
| 1925 | Kentucky | 6–3 | 4–2 | 7th | |||||
| 1926 | Kentucky | 2–6–1 | 1–4–1 | T–19th | |||||
| Kentucky: | 12–14–1 | 7–9–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 40–37–4 | ||||||||
