Gladewater football coach Jack Murphy inducted into THSCA Hall of Honor

SAN ANTONIO, Texas ( KETK ) – Jack Murphy, who coached the Gladewater Bears to 11 consecutive playoff appearances in the 1960’s and 1970’s, has been inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Honor.

Murphy was born in Tyler back in 1938. He played for Chapel Hill High School, Tulsa University and then Tyler Junior College before earning All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and graduating with a degree in kinesiology and life science.

Murphy also earned his master of education and started coaching at Clarendon and Judson High Schools before he started as head coach in Gladewater in 1969. As head coach, he brought the Bears to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history. He ended his coaching career in 1997 with a 215-116-7 record. Murphy later died of cancer in October of 2000.

Coach Murphy was voted as the district football coach of the year eight times and the East Texas coach of the year twice. He’s been inducted into the Tyler Junior College Sports Circle of
Honor, the East Texas Coaches Association Hall of Honor and now the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Honor as well as of Saturday July, 20.

Today, the Gladewater Bears play in the Jack V. Murphy Stadium.

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