Raymond William Murphy (July 27, 1940 – July 16, 2023) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He was the head football coach for Mercy High School—now known as Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School—from 1966 to 1967,

South Jefferson High School South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

from 1968 to 1969, the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...

in 1974, Kean College of New Jersey—now known as

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth, and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education and is a state-designated rese ...

—from 1977 to 1979, and

Cranford High School Cranford High School is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Cranford, in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and operating as the lone secondary school of the Cranford Townshi ...

in 1980.

Biography

Murphy was born on July 27, 1940, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He attended St. Agnes Boys High School and the State University of New York College at Cortland, or simply Cortland, as a football and track athlete. As a member of the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

, Murphy was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He graduated from Cortland in 1962. He also later received his master's there. Murphy began his coaching career in 1961, as an assistant for Homer Central High School. After one season, he joined Hauppauge High School as the team's

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

. In his first season, he helped lead the team to its best record in program history with a 4–3–1 record in the team's seventh season of play. Under his tutelage, his offenses players earned the nickname "Murphy's Marauders." In 1964 and 1966, he served as an assistant for

Harborfields High School Harborfields High School is a four-year secondary school located in Greenlawn, New York, United States. It functions as the sole high school for Harborfields Central School District, encompassing the communities of Centerport and Greenlawn al ...

. In 1967, Murphy earned his first head coaching position with Mercy High School—now known as Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School—as the team's inaugural coach. The team competed in the Interstate Catholic League (ICL) which housed local powerhouses

La Salle Military Academy La Salle Military Academy, later known as La Salle Center, was a Roman Catholic, Catholic school with middle school/junior high school and high school divisions located in Oakdale, New York. It closed in 2001, and the school's extensive campus w ...

, St. Dominic's School, and

Seton Hall High School Seton Hall High School was located on 155 West Roe Boulevard in Patchogue, New York. Prior to 1952, the school was situated in bungalows on South Ocean Avenue. It opened in September 1937 and was closed in June 1974. Seton Hall was one of very ...

. He began his tenure losing all eight games. The team began the season running the

I formation The I formation is one of the most common offensive formations in American football. The I formation draws its name from the vertical (as viewed from the opposing endzone) alignment of quarterback, fullback, and running back, particularly wh ...

before switching to

single-wing In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation was a precursor to the modern shotgun formation. The term usually connotes formations in which the snap is tossed rather than handed. Formations with one wingback and a handed snap a ...

at the suggestion of fellow conference member Pete Pizzarelli of Copiague High School. He served as head coach for two years before accepting the same position with

. In his lone season with South Jefferson, he led the school to an undefeated record. In 1970, Murphy accepted his first collegiate position as the

offensive backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and fullb ...

coach and primary recruiter in a volunteer capacity for the start-up club program Albany, under head coach Bob Ford. Alongside Murphy, the six other assistants were either part-time graduate assistants or volunteers like himself. In 1972, he was promoted to offensive coordinator. He left the team in 1973 and was hired as the offensive coordinator for East Stroudsburg. In 1974, Murphy earned his first opportunity as a college head coach when he was hired by

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

as the sixth coach in the program's 25-year history. He succeeded Ed Farrell, who resigned to become the head coach for Davidson. Murphy was not the top choice for the head coaching position, in fact, he was slated to become an assistant coach before the leading candidate dropped out of the running. With a background as an offensive coach, he installed the

triple option The triple option is an American football play used to offer six ways to move the football forward on the field of play. The triple option is based on the option run, but uses three players who might run with the ball instead of the two used in ...

as the team's primary offensive playbook. He led the team to a 6–4 record before the school cut the football program. He spent the next two seasons as an assistant for

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Murphy interviewed for the offensive coordinator position for

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

after the resignation of Jack Dean. The position eventually went to the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

offensive coordinator at the Division I level, Joe Redmond. In 1977, Murphy was again hired as a head coach, this time for Kean. He brought with him an entirely new staff, including

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

assistant freshmen coach John Crea, who played under Murphy at Albany, as his assistant head coach and

defensive backs In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

coach. His initial roster consisted of mostly undersized underclassmen. He held the position for three seasons and amassed an overall record of 10–18–2. He was fired his third-straight losing season. In 1980, he returned to high school coaching as the head coach for

. After one season he was hired as the

quarterbacks The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

coach for William Paterson. He coached only one season for the team before leaving coaching entirely. After leaving coaching, Murphy started his own business. He died on July 16, 2023, in

Englewood, Florida Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,800, up from 14,863 at the 2010 census. It is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sara ...

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Ray 1940 births 2023 deaths Albany Great Danes football coaches Bridgeport Purple Knights football coaches Cortland Red Dragons football players Cortland Red Dragons men's track and field athletes East Stroudsburg Warriors football coaches Kean Cougars football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches William Paterson Pioneers football coaches High school football coaches in New Jersey High school football coaches in New York (state) Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York City Track and field athletes from New York City