Fred J. Murphy

Frederick James Murphy (February 4, 1886 – December 19, 1956) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a tackle at Yale University was selected as an All-American in 1895. Murphy served as the head football coach at the University of Missouri (1900–1901), Northwestern University (1914–1918), University of Denver (1920–1922), and University of Kentucky (1924–1926), compiling a career football coaching record of 46–47–6. 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
Murphy attended Yale University where he played tackle for the school's football team. He was selected as an All-American at that position in 1895.

In 1894, Murphy was injured in the Harvard–Yale football game that became known as the "Hampden Park Blood Bath." The game had become increasingly brutal with the introduction of mass formation. In the 1894 game, four players on each team suffered serious injuries, resulting in the cancellation of the football rivalry between the two schools. Murphy was left unconscious for five hours in a hospital as a result of the beating he took in the game.

Missouri
Murphy started as the head football coach at the University of Missouri from 1900 to 1901 and compiled a 6–10–2 record.

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.