Behind Enemy Lines with Harvard football coach Tim Murphy

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Over the last two decades, Tim Murphy has become one of the most accomplished and respected coaches in Ivy League history. He is Harvard’s all-time winningest coach and has won six Ivy League titles with the Crimson. We sat down with coach Murphy to discuss the recent success of the Harvard program, and the challenges of shutting down Penn's offense.

Daily Pennsylvanian: You and Penn coach Al Bagnoli are two of the most accomplished coaches in Ivy League history. Can you talk about the mutual respect you have for each other and also your relationship?

Tim Murphy: First of all, I’ve had a good relationship with Al primarily because I respect the way he runs his program and what he and his staff have accomplished. They’ve had tremendous and consistent success, and I think they’ve done it the right way.

DP: Just about every year recently you and Penn have been in contention, and have had games with big implications. Eleven of the last 14 Harvard-Penn matchups have produced an Ivy League champion. Can you talk about the rivalry between Harvard and Penn, and how it has grown since you first became the coach of the Crimson?

TM: You have to understand, when we first got into the league, Harvard had really struggled. After the 1996 season, I don’t think Harvard had a winning season in 10 years, and we knew that if we were going to get the program turned around and become a championship caliber program we were going to have to compete with the very best programs in the league, and in this case, the starting point was certainly Penn.

DP: This year is a little different from previous years in that the Harvard-Penn game won’t directly decide the Ivy title. Your team has to deal with scenarios that rely on whether Princeton wins. How do you get your players to forget about all the scenarios and focus on the task at hand?

TM: There’s no excuse for not focusing on the task at hand. In the Ivy League, like in just about every other Division I program in the country, you work out probably 300 plus days a year in preparation for just those 10 games, so each game is extremely precious. It happens to be our seniors' last home game. This year we have the most seniors in Harvard history with 36, and they’re playing Penn. So I think the combination of those things makes it very easy to be focused and motivated to play as well as possible.

DP: You’ve had some relatively inexperienced players play a central offensive role this season, namely quarterback Conner Hempel and running back Paul Stanton. Can you talk about how well they’ve adjusted to their more significant roles this year, and your confidence in them to come through in big games?

TM: I think those key skill positions are obviously very important, but they’re only as good as the other guys around them. Having said that, they’ve both done a terrific job. They’ve both proved that they are high-level players. They’re very tough, competitive guys. Those are the type of guys you need to recruit and play to have a chance to be as successful as we’ve been in the last 15 years.

DP: The Quakers have added some speed to their backfield this year with Kyle Wilcox and Spencer Kulcsar. Can you talk about the challenges they present and whether you will need to take a different approach to stopping Penn’s run game this time around?

TM: There’s no question they’re terrific athletes. They’re very fast. Penn always seems to have outstanding running backs, although some of them in the past have been bigger and more physical. These kids appear to have the ability to do it all.

DP: Your defense is second in the Ivy league in interceptions, but they are also giving up the most passing yards. Can you talk about the importance of your secondary play this Saturday, going up against Billy Ragone, a veteran quarterback that knows how to win big games?

TM: When you talk about veteran quarterbacks in this league, you have to start with Billy Ragone. There’s guys that have sexier numbers, there’s guys that may be All-Ivy this, All-Ivy that, but the bottom line is the guy just wins. He’s a tremendous competitor, he’s seen it all, and we have to be prepared for him, run or pass, on every snap.

For more of our interview with Tim Murphy, check out the full Behind Enemy Lines on The Buzz.

-by Seamus Powers