Coach Charles Murphy:
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"Bubber" Murphy was a student at Middle
Tennessee State Teacher's College from 1934 to 1938. He lettered in football,
baseball, basketball, and tennis. In addition, "Bubber" became our
first Little All-American representative in football, he led the 1936 basketball
team in scoring, and after graduation he was a professional AAA baseball player
in 1939.
Murphy served in the U.S. Navy from April 1942 to
December 1946. After his discharge, he received his Master's degree from Peabody
College and was coaching at Peabody Demonstration School when he received the
call to return to his alma mater.
In 1947 Murphy became the head football coach and
athletic director at Middle Tennessee State College. The Blue Raiders
experienced amazing success. His fellow OVC coaches voted him Coach of the Year,
and he was named by the American Football Coaches Association as their national
"Coach of the Year" in 1965. In 1969, Coach Murphy became athletic
director full-time.
Coach Murphy served as director of the TSSAA Coaches
School and all-star games, and numerous basketball tournaments. In 1972 the $6.5
million Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center was dedicated to him, and he was
inducted into the MTSU Hall of Fame in 1976.
The Mid-Stater
"Bubber" retired in 1981, after 34 years as
coach and athletic director and 47 years after he became a Blue Raider.
Click on the image below to read about Coach Murphy in the
words of his son.
