Report: Longtime Harvard head coach Tim Murphy expected to step down

Harvard Crimson head football coach Tim Murphy is expected to step down, per Matt Zenitz.

Murphy is 67 years old and has led Harvard since 1994. During that time, the Crimson won the Ivy League 10 times and he compiled an overall record of 200-89. That makes him the winningest coach in the history of the program, surpassing his predecessor Joe Restic by 83 wins and five conference titles.

As a member of the Ivy League, the Crimson don’t play in the FCS playoffs, making Ivy League titles the ultimate goal to play for. Tim Murphy finished his career at Harvard with a shared Ivy League title in 2023. He was also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.

On top of his success within the Ivy League, Harvard has also been acknowledged nationally as one of FCS football’s best programs, finishing in the Top 25 six different times. That success includes a stretch of 16 straight winning seasons. Under Murphy, the Crimson have finished with double digit wins twice, despite never playing more than 10 games in a season. Harvard also finished unbeaten three times under his watch.

For Harvard, the most important game each season is the rivalry with Yale. It was a game that the Crimson dominated while Murphy was coaching the team, going 19-10 against the Bulldogs. However, he did lose the final two games he coached against Yale.

Prior to coaching at Harvard, Tim Murphy coached at Maine and Cincinnati. He took Maine to the playoffs once in his two seasons there.

In 2012, Murphy became the president of the American Football Coaches Association. That’s the organization for over 11,000 coaches that looks to maintain standards in coaching.

It’s unclear who Harvard will bring in to replace Tim Murphy for the long term. However, it’s clear that whoever that coach is will have massive shoes to fill. It also seems like, given that Harvard has had three coaches in the last 67 years, the Crimson will be looking for someone who wants to be with the program for the long haul.

Ahead of the 2023 season, longtime Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens passed away after being struck by a truck while riding his bike. That, combined with Tim Murphy moving on from Harvard, will help to reshape the next era of Ivy League football and could shake up the balance of power within the conference.