Jack V. Murphy

Jack V. Murphy, who won more than 200 games and achieved legendary status in East Texas and the state, will be inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Honor in July.

Murphy, who died after a lengthy battle with cancer one day before his 62nd birthday back in 2020, will join Lee Bridges, Ken Cook, Chris Koetting and Mel Maxfield as 2024 inductees into the Hall of Honor.

The celebration is set for Saturday, July 20 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, coinciding with the annual THSCA Coaching School and Convention.

Murphy’s Gladewater teams compiled a 215-110-7 record and won or shared nine district championships.

Murphy, a graduate of Chapel Hill High School, was an all-conference and All-American at Tyler Junior College. He later played at Tulsa University, and began his coaching career there in 1961 as a graduate assistant before moving on to Clarendon High School and then back to East Texas as head junior high coach at Judson in Longview.

In 1965, Murphy moved to Gladewater High School, serving as assistant coach before taking the head job in 1969.

His Gladewater teams earned 11 straight playoff berths from 1982 to 1992, reaching the quarterfinals five times and earning 38 straight district wins during that span.

He took over during the 1969 season and finished with a 4-3-1 record. Murphy’s Bears were 0-10 and 3-6-1 the next two seasons, but Gladewater went 6-4 in 1972 and his teams had more 10-plus win seasons (seven) than losing seasons (six) during the remainder of his career.

The Bears finished 12-1 in 1975, 12-2 in 1983, 13-0-1 in 1984, 10-3 in 1985, 13-1 in 1987, 13-2 in 1989 and 13-1 in 1990.

Murphy is also enshrined in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco, the Gladewater Hall of Fame and the Tyler Junior College Circle of Honor.

In 1998, the Gladewater school board passed a resolution to rename the football stadium Jack V. Murphy-Bear Stadium.