Robert M. Murphy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 17, 1878 |
| Died | 4 July 1925 (aged 46) |
| Alma mater | Washington & Jefferson College |
| Years active | 1906-1925 |
| Known for | College administrator, student solicitor and graduate manager for W&J College |
Robert Martin "Mother" Murphy was an administrator at Washington & Jefferson College; his efforts to improve the Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team directly led to its development as a national powerhouse during the early 20th century. [1]
Murphy graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in 1906. [2] From 1906 to 1925, he served as the college's student solicitor and graduate manager for the football team. [3] In that position, he personally recruited many of the players that eventually comprised the most successful teams in the College's history. [3] The modern analogue of his position would be the athletic director. [1]
College president James D. Moffat personally credited Murphy for increasing the enrollment by 9%. [3]
In 1910, the football program was in danger of being dissolved due to crushing debt. [4] The Student Athletic Committee proposed a $1 per term student fee to fund the team, a proposal that was met with initial resistance from the student body. [4] However, team manager and beloved student solicitor Murphy was able to convince the students to accept the fee. [4]
In 1912, he personally recruited Bob Folwell away from Lafayette College to serve as head coach for the football team This move ushered in the era of dominance for the football squad. [5] That era of dominance peaked in the 1921 season, when the Presidents were invited to play in the 1922 Rose Bowl. Twenty men traveled on the cross-country trip and Murphy had to mortgage his home to pay his family’s way. [6]
He died on July 4, 1925. [7]
W & J College graduate and football historian E. Lee North detailed many of Robert Murphy's accomplishments in "The Incredible Bob Murphy." One paragraph reads, "As Graduate Manager, Murphy scheduled games with the best teams in the country-- Pitt, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Notre Dame, Army, Navy, Penn, Penn State, Syracuse... To do battle, he somehow encouraged super players and coaches to come to little Washington, Pa.-- his coaches read like a Who's Who from the Hall of Fame -- Earl "Greasy" Neal, John W. Heisman, Andy Kerr, Sol Metzger, Dave Morrow, and perhaps the greatest of all, Bob Folwell. His recruits Pete Henry and Bill Amos served as coaches later on, and Henry was athletic director for many years."
On Mother's Day in 1936, the college honored Murphy by dedicating a day of service to Murphy's memory. [8]
The college's athletic program presents the annual "Robert M. Murphy Award" to graduates who have made "outstanding contributions or offered extraordinary service to athletics at W&J after graduation." [9] The award has been presented at the annual Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony. [9]
The Rule, Hughes, and Murphy Prize, named for Murphy and two other alumni (James Rule (1898), Howard Hughes ’11) honors sophomore students who display high levels of "academic achievement, academic promise, and leadership potential." [10] The award carries a $2,000 cash prize. [10]
Washington & Jefferson College is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian missionaries in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith. Early schools grew into two competing academies, with Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Washington College in Washington. The two colleges merged in 1865 to form Washington & Jefferson College. The 60-acre (24 ha) campus has more than 40 buildings, with the oldest dating to 1793. The college has a strong history of competing literary societies, dating back before the union of Jefferson and Washington Colleges. The athletic program competes in NCAA Division III. Nearly all students live on campus and roughly one-third are members of fraternities or sororities.
Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population is approximately 1,307 undergraduate and graduate students.
Wilbur Francis "Pete" Henry was an American football player, coach, and athletic administrator. He was a charter inductee into both the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
Sol S. Metzger was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, college athletics administrator, and sports journalist. He served as the head football coach at Baylor University (1904), the University of Pennsylvania (1908), Oregon State University (1909), West Virginia University (1914–1915), Washington & Jefferson College (1916–1917), Union College (1919), the University of South Carolina (1920–1924). Metzger was also the head basketball coach at South Carolina for one season in 1920–21, tallying a mark of 7–11. In addition, Metzger wrote a nationally syndicated sports column.
Robert Cook Folwell Jr. was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Lafayette College (1909–1911), Washington & Jefferson College (1912–1915), the University of Pennsylvania (1916–1919), and the United States Naval Academy (1920–1924), compiling a career college football record of 106–29–9. Folwell then moved to the professional ranks, coaching the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) in 1925, the Philadelphia Quakers of the American Football League in 1926, and the Atlantic City Roses of the Eastern League of Professional Football in 1927.
Ernest B. McCoy was an All-American basketball player at the University of Michigan from 1927 to 1929. After graduating, he spent his entire professional career in college athletics, serving as the athletic director at Penn State (1952–1970), the athletic director at the University of Miami (1971–1973), and a basketball coach (1949–1952), assistant football coach, and assistant athletic director (1946–1952) at Michigan. He is most remembered as the athletic director who hired Joe Paterno as head football coach at Penn State in 1966.
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The Washington & Jefferson Presidents are the intercollegiate athletic teams for Washington & Jefferson College. The name "Presidents" refers to the two presidential namesakes of the college: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. W&J is a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference, the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and play in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in both men's and women's varsity sports. During the 2005–2006 season, 34 percent of the student body played varsity-level athletics.
The Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team represents Washington & Jefferson College in collegiate level football. The team competes in NCAA Division III and is affiliated with the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Since its founding in 1890, the team has played their home games at College Field, which was remodeled and renamed Cameron Stadium in 2001.
Charles Fremont "Pruner" West was an American track athlete, college football player and coach, and physician. He played football and ran track at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. He was the first African American to play quarterback in a Rose Bowl. West served as the head football coach at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1928 and again from 1934 to 1935, compiling a record of 12–7–2.
Burleigh Cruikshank was an American football player and Presbyterian minister. In 1914, he was a first-team All-American playing at the center position for Washington & Jefferson College. He later attended the Princeton Theological Seminary and served as a Presbyterian minister in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Steubenville, Ohio and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Alfred J. "A.J." Pagano is a former college football player for Washington & Jefferson College. During his playing career, he was one of the most prominent NCAA Division III football players, gaining national attention and honors.
The traditions of Washington & Jefferson College are a key aspect of the culture of Washington & Jefferson College. One of the oldest traditions at Washington & Jefferson College were the "Freshman Rules", a system of rules and restrictions on freshmen. Failure by freshmen to follow these rules would subject them to beatings by upperclassmen or other punishments doled out by the "Freshman Court". During the 1870s and 1880s, the students engaged in organized athletic competitions, pitting the freshman versus sophomore classes in the "Olympic Games" that involved elaborate opening ceremonies and the smoking of a Pipe of Peace." Another form of physical contest between the freshman and sophomore classes were the annual "color rush," where the teams fought over control over strips of fabric, the "pole rush," where the teams battled to raise a flag up a flagpole, and the "cane rush" where the teams fought over control over a ceremonial cane. These contests generally devolved into outright gang violence.
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The Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Pennsylvania State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
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