Harvard Football Coach Tim Murphy Announces Retirement

The legendary Ivy League coach is stepping down after 30 years at the helm.

Longtime Harvard head football coach Tim Murphy announced his retirement on Wednesday after 30 years with the football program, the school announced.

The 67-year-old Murphy took over Harvard’s football program prior to the 1994 season. In 30 years with the Crimson, he went 200–89 with 10 Ivy League championships. 

Murphy was also a five-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award for top coach in the FCS, and was an eight-time New England Coach of the Year recipient. He is the all-time coaching wins leader in Ivy League (and Harvard) history. In total, he won 232 games over his career when counting his previous head coaching jobs at Maine and Cincinnati.

Thank you, Coach.

🗞️: https://t.co/66FHkQm1Ht pic.twitter.com/Niqwjva6hB

— Harvard Football (@HarvardFootball) January 17, 2024

“Harvard University has been a very special place for my family and me,” Murphy said in the school’s release. “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,” he added, “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 leaves big shoes to fill at Harvard, and the school is beginning a national search for his successor immediately, per the release.