John A. (Jack) Murphy's appointment as head football coach on Jan. 21, 1971 was immediately heralded in the local media as the most popular choice possible among the University faculty and students, alumni, and the high school coaching fraternity. Murphy inherited the difficult assignment of protecting a 23-game victory string, longest in the nation at the time. He kept the streak going with 12 more victories, extending it to 35 games, to date second longest in major college football history. He also guided Toledo to its third straight Mid-American Conference and Tangerine Bowl titles.
After that first season, Murphy's fellow coaches in Ohio honored him as Mid American Conference New Media Association members voted him MAC Coach of the Year. As the result of receiving those honors, he coached the winning East team in the first annual Ohio Shrine Bowl Game played at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio in 1972.
Murphy posted a 35-32 (.522) record in six years as head coach and finished his career with the second-most wins in UT history. He also holds the distinction of being the first person in the country to go undefeated in his first season as a Div. I head coach.
Murphy began his college coaching career as an assistant at Heidelberg College under Paul Hoerneman and then in 1960 moved to Toledo as an assistant coach under Clive Rush. When Frank Lauterbur took over as head coach in 1963, Murphy was the first appointment made to the staff. He served as coordinator of the defense, and in five of his last six seasons Toledo ranked among the top 10 nationally in total defense.
He left Toledo briefly in 1970 to become head coach at his alma mater, Heidelberg College where he picked up a winless program to the level of 3-6 in his first season.
Murphy is a 1954 graduate of Heidelberg College where he won all-Ohio Conference honors as an end and linebacker. He served two years in the army and in 1956 began a coaching career as an assistant at Mount Vernon High School. In 1959, Murphy received a master of education degree from Bowling Green State University.
The Toledo coach spoke widely throughout Ohio and Michigan on football clinic staffs and was one of the featured lecturers at the 1972 clinic that highlighted the annual North-South Ohio All-Star Game of Canton.
Murphy is native of Barberton, Ohio where he played high school football. He was previously inducted into the Barberton High School and Heidelberg College athletic halls of fame.
