View source for Cal Murphy

{{Short description|Canadian football player and coach}}
{{Distinguish|Calvin Murphy}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2012}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox CFL biography
| name = Cal Murphy
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption = Cal Murphy QB ca 1952
| birth_date = {{birth date|1932|3|12}}
| birth_place = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|2|18|1932|3|12}}
| death_place = [[Regina, Saskatchewan]], Canada
| team = 
| number = 
| status = 
| import = no
| position1 = Halfback
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 10
| weight_lb = 180
| CIS = [[University of British Columbia|British Columbia]]
| high_school = [[Vancouver College]]
| administrating_years1 = {{CFL Year|1983}}–{{CFL Year|1996}}
| administrating_team1 = [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] ([[General Manager|GM]])
| coaching_years1 = {{CFL Year|1974}}
| coaching_team1 = [[BC Lions]] (Assistant)
| coaching_years2 = {{CFL Year|1975}}–{{CFL Year|1976}}
| coaching_team2 = BC Lions ([[Head coach|HC]])
| coaching_years3 = {{CFL Year|1977}}
| coaching_team3 = [[Montreal Alouettes]] (Assistant)
| coaching_years4 = {{CFL Year|1978}}–{{CFL Year|1982}}
| coaching_team4 = [[Edmonton Eskimos]] (Off. Coach)
| coaching_years5 = {{CFL Year|1983}}–{{CFL Year|1986}}
| coaching_team5 = [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] (HC)
| coaching_years6 = {{CFL Year|1993}}–{{CFL Year|1996}}
| coaching_team6 = Winnipeg Blue Bombers (HC)
| coaching_years7 = {{CFL Year|1997}}–{{CFL Year|1998}}
| coaching_team7 = [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]] ([[Offensive coordinator|OC]])
| coaching_years8 = {{CFL Year|1999}}
| coaching_team8 = Saskatchewan Roughriders (HC)
| coaching_years9 = 2000
| coaching_team9 = [[Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe)|Frankfurt Galaxy]]
| playing_years1 = {{CFL Year|1956}}
| playing_team1 = [[BC Lions]]
| career_highlights = 
| awards = 2× [[Annis Stukus Trophy]] ({{CFL Year|1983}}, {{CFL Year|1984}})
| CFHOF = cal-murphy
| CFHOFYear = 2004
}}

'''Cal Murphy''' (March 12, 1932 &ndash; February 18, 2012) was a [[Canadian football]] coach, general manager and scout, most notably for the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] of the [[Canadian Football League]]. In his career as a coach and/or general manager, he led various teams to nine [[Grey Cup]] championships, earning a spot in the [[Canadian Football Hall of Fame]]. In his retirement years he spent some time as a [[Scout (sport)|scout]] for the [[Indianapolis Colts]] of the [[National Football League]].

==Early life==
Murphy, one of seven children, was born in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]] in 1932. His father, William Murphy, a senior executive with [[Coca-Cola]], moved the family to [[Vancouver]]. He attended [[Vancouver College]], a K-12 independent Catholic school for boys served by the [[Congregation of Christian Brothers]] in British Columbia, where he was a football standout.  He then starred with the [[University of British Columbia]] Thunderbirds as a left-handed [[quarterback]] and [[defensive back]], and played a brief stint with the [[British Columbia Lions]] of the CFL in 1956.  Murphy then turned to education, returning to Vancouver College and taking over the reins as head coach in 1960–61.  He led the Fighting Irish to their only undefeated season. He pursued his master's degree while an assistant coach at [[Eastern Washington University]] under head coach Dave Holmes.  Murphy followed Holmes to the University of Hawaii Rainbows, and became part of the most successful coaching tenure in Hawaii history.  (From 1968 to 1974, UH won 67 percent of its games and never suffered a losing season.)  In 1973, Murphy left Hawaii for the [[San Jose State Spartans]] under head coach [[Darryl Rogers]].

<gallery>
Image:UH_Coaching_Staff_ca_1968.jpg|U. of Hawaii coaching staff ca 1968 
</gallery>

==Coaching career==
Cal Murphy joined the CFL coaching ranks in [[1974 CFL season|1974]] with the [[BC Lions]] under head coach [[Eagle Keys]], and became head coach after game six in the [[1975 BC Lions season|1975 season]]. He was fired after the [[1976 CFL season|1976 season]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pages/History/2010%20year-by-year.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-07-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113094714/http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pages/History/2010%20year-by-year.pdf |archive-date=November 13, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and moved on to spend the [[1977 CFL season|1977]] [[Grey Cup]] [[1977 Montreal Alouettes season|championship season]] in Montreal with the [[Montreal Alouettes|Alouettes]] under head coach [[Marv Levy]]. In [[1978 CFL season|1978]], he took the job as [[offensive line coach]] with the [[Edmonton Eskimos]] under head coach [[Hugh Campbell]], and from 1978 through [[1982 CFL season|1982]], Edmonton won a record five consecutive Grey Cup championships with the talents of football greats such as [[Tom Wilkinson (Canadian football)|Tom Wilkinson]], [[Larry Highbaugh]], and [[Warren Moon]].

In [[1983 CFL season|1983]], Murphy was hired by Paul Robson of the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] and spent 14 years as head coach and general manager. He developed a reputation for finding top talent, and developed one of the most feared defenses in CFL history with the likes of [[Tyrone Jones]], [[James West (Canadian football)|James "Wild" West]], and [[Aaron Brown (linebacker)|Aaron Brown]]. In a controversial move, he traded away strong-armed and popular starting QB [[Dieter Brock]] to the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]] for the smarts of lesser known QB [[Tom Clements]].  Although Clements would suffer a season-ending collarbone injury, and the Bombers would lose in the [[1983 CFL season|1983 Western Final]] to the BC Lions, they would crush the Brock-led Tiger-Cats in [[1984 CFL season|1984]] by a score of 47–17 in a frigid [[72nd Grey Cup|Grey Cup]] in [[Edmonton]], bringing the city of Winnipeg its first Grey Cup in 22 years.

Murphy was awarded the [[Annis Stukus Trophy]] for Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1984. The Blue Bombers appeared in five Grey Cups under his tenure as GM and head coach, winning three in 1984, [[76th Grey Cup|1988]], [[78th Grey Cup|1990]]. He earned a reputation for his often cantankerous personality. He was an outspoken opponent of [[CFL USA|CFL expansion to the United States]], believing it put a risk to the uniqueness of the Canadian game, and challenged the goodwill relationship long-maintained with the [[National Football League|NFL]]. He finished up his CFL career in Regina with the [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]] from [[1997 CFL season|1997]] to [[1999 CFL season|1999]]. In 2000, he coached with the [[Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe)|Frankfurt Galaxy]] in [[NFL Europe]], followed by a brief stint with [[Chicago Enforcers]] in the [[XFL (2001)|XFL]]. Murphy was elected into the [[Canadian Football Hall of Fame]] in 2004, and was a scout for the [[Super Bowl]] Champion [[Indianapolis Colts]] at the time of his death.

===CFL coaching record===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular Season !! colspan="4"|Post Season
|-
!Won!!Lost!!Ties!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !!  Result
|-
![[1975 BC Lions season|BC]]||[[1975 CFL season|1975]]
||5||5||0||.500||5th in West Division|| – || – || Missed Playoffs
|-
![[1976 BC Lions season|BC]]||[[1976 CFL season|1976]]
||5||9||2||.375||4th in West Division|| – || – || Missed Playoffs
|-
! colspan="2"|'''BC Total'''
||'''10'''||'''14'''||'''2'''||'''.423'''||'''0 West Division<br />Championships'''||'''-'''||'''-'''||'''0 Grey Cups'''
|-
![[1983 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1983 CFL season|1983]]
||9||7||0||.563||'''2nd in West Division'''|| 1 || 1 || Lost in Division Finals
|-
![[1984 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1984 CFL season|1984]]
||11||4||1||.712||'''2nd in West Division'''|| 3 || 0 || '''Won [[72nd Grey Cup|Grey Cup]]'''
|-
![[1985 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1985 CFL season|1985]]
||12||4||0||.750||'''2nd in West Division'''|| 1 || 1 || Lost in Division Finals
|-
![[1986 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1986 CFL season|1986]]
||11||7||0||.611||'''3rd in West Division'''|| 0 || 1 || Lost in Division Semi-Finals
|-
![[1993 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1993 CFL season|1993]]
||14||4||0||.778||'''1st in East Division'''|| 1 || 1 || Lost [[81st Grey Cup|Grey Cup]]
|-
![[1994 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1994 CFL season|1994]]
||13||5||0||.722||'''1st in East Division'''|| 1 || 1 || Lost in Division Finals
|-
![[1995 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1995 CFL season|1995]]
||7||11||0||.389||'''5th in North Division'''|| 0 || 1 || Lost in Division Semi-Finals
|-
![[1996 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season|WPG]]||[[1996 CFL season|1996]]
||9||9||0||.500||'''3rd in West Division'''|| 0 || 1 || Lost in Division Semi-Finals
|-
! colspan="2"|'''WPG Total'''
||'''86'''||'''51'''||'''1'''||'''.627'''||'''2 East Division<br />Championships'''||'''7'''||'''7'''||'''1 Grey Cup'''
|-
![[1999 Saskatchewan Roughriders season|SSK]]||[[1999 CFL season|1999]]
||3||15||0||.167||5th in West Division|| – || – || Missed Playoffs
|-
! colspan="2"|'''SSK Total'''
||'''3'''||'''15'''||'''0'''||'''.167'''||'''0 West Division<br />Championships'''||'''-'''||'''-'''||'''0 Grey Cups'''
|-
! colspan="2"|'''CFL Total'''
||'''99'''||'''80'''||'''3'''||'''.552'''||'''2 East Division<br />Championships'''||'''7'''||'''7'''||'''1 Grey Cup'''
|}

==Personal life==
After suffering heart attacks in 1978 and 1985, in 1992 Murphy underwent emergency heart bypass surgery that kept him alive before being saved by a last-second donor and successful heart transplant surgery.  In January 1993, the [[Governor General of Canada]] presented Cal Murphy with the [[125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal]] in recognition of the significant contribution to compatriots, community and to Canada. His eldest son, Mike, is a scout with the NFL's [[New York Giants]], and son-in-law, [[Sammy Garza]], is a scout with the NFL's [[Dallas Cowboys]]. He had seven children: Carol, Mike, Barbara, Erin, Shannon, Brian and Kelly.

Cal Murphy died in [[Regina, Saskatchewan]] on February 18, 2012, aged 79.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newstalk650.com/story/cal-murphy-dead-age-79/44522|title=Cal Murphy dead at age 79|work=News Talk 650 CKOM|publisher=[[Rawlco Communications]]|date=February 19, 2012|access-date=2012-02-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222032145/http://www.newstalk650.com/story/cal-murphy-dead-age-79/44522|archive-date=February 22, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{BC Lions coach navbox}}
{{Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach navbox}}
{{Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager navbox}}
{{Saskatchewan Roughriders coach navbox}}
{{66th Grey Cup}}
{{67th Grey Cup}}
{{68th Grey Cup}}
{{69th Grey Cup}}
{{70th Grey Cup}}
{{72nd Grey Cup}}
{{78th Grey Cup}}
{{Annis Stukus Trophy}}
{{Canadian Football Hall of Fame members}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Cal}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:BC Lions coaches]]
[[Category:BC Lions players]]
[[Category:Edmonton Elks coaches]]
[[Category:Frankfurt Galaxy coaches]]
[[Category:Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches]]
[[Category:UBC Thunderbirds football players]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Blue Bombers general managers]]
[[Category:San Francisco Demons coaches]]
[[Category:Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Canadian football people from Vancouver]]
[[Category:Canadian football people from Winnipeg]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from British Columbia]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from Manitoba]]
[[Category:Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Vancouver College alumni]]