Bio

With more than 30 years of service to Hinds Community College, Dot Murphy is a legend. Murphy is the first female to coach football in NJCAA history, beginning as a wide receivers coach at Hinds in 1984.

While the Starkville, Mississippi, native is the daughter of a high school football coach, she grew up playing basketball, and went on to play at the Mississippi University for Women as a forward. She was a starter on the 1973 U.S. Women's World University Games team which earned a silver medal in that year's Summer Universiade in Moscow, Russia. Her roommate during that trip was another college basketball player who would late go into coaching herself, Pat Summitt. Following her playing days, Murphy immediately transitioned into coaching basketball in 1975, first as an assistant at UT-Martin, then as head coach at Itawamba Community College, and finally for five seasons at the Mississippi University for Women.

Murphy's husband, Gene, was named defensive coordinator at then Hinds Junior College in 1983, and Dot Murphy joined him on staff there a season later in August 1984 as wide receivers coach. Her hiring made her the first female college football coach in NJCAA history. In addition to her coaching responsibilities, she served as athletic trainer, and coached the kickers, punters, and long snapping position from 2003-2018, when she retired.

As a postion coach, two of her former players went on to play in the NFL, Hason Graham with the New England Patriots, and James Williams with the Seattle Seahawks. Numerous other receivers went on to play at the NCAA Division I level after playing at Hinds CC under Coach Murphy's tutilege.

Her contributions to college athletics have be featured on NFL Films, TNT's Football America, the Today Show, and in Sports Illustrated, which named her as 50th on their "20th Century's 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Mississippi" list.