Titans’ Murphy Finally Has Enough : Football: Coach cites budget cuts and instability in his decision to resign after his 13th season. Team’s record under him is 58-83-1.

Cal State Fullerton football Coach Gene Murphy, tired of the budget cuts and instability that have plagued his program in recent years, said Thursday night he will retire at the end of this season, his 13th with the Titans.

The timing of his announcement at the Fullerton Marriott--the Titans are 1-3 entering Saturday’s homecoming game against Nevada--was predicated on Murphy’s decision to take advantage of incentives offered in the California State University’s early retirement program, which expires Saturday.

Murphy, 53, will continue to run the football program as an employee of the Titan Athletic Foundation until his contract expires Jan. 31. He said he hopes to land another coaching job but hasn’t been in contact with other schools, although Fullerton College, which is under the direction of two interim coaches, is a possibility.

Titan Athletic Director Bill Shumard said he wouldn’t begin seeking a successor until after the season, when school President Milton A. Gordon determines the direction of the program--whether the Titans will remain Division I-A, drop to I-AA or drop the sport altogether.

Murphy, who brought his wise-cracking sense of humor to Fullerton in 1980 and guided the Titans to a conference championship in 1983 and an 11-1 season and brief stay in United Press International’s Top 20 in 1984, became the embodiment of a program that made the most of meager resources.

But severe budget cuts in the last three years, which left his program with the equivalent of 33 scholarships--seven under the maximum 40 allowed to NCAA Division II schools and about a third of the 92 allowed to Division I-A schools--made it almost impossible to compete in Division I-A.

And the program’s uncertainty--the sport was nearly dropped in the winter of 1991 because of financial problems, and rumors abound that it will be downgraded or dropped after this season--have made it almost impossible to attract quality recruits to the school.

The result: A 1-11 season in 1990, 2-9 season in 1991 and a 1-3 start in 1992, which included Saturday’s embarrassing 29-3 loss to Division II Cal State Sacramento.

And a coach who was so discouraged when he looked into the future that not even the long-awaited, 10,000-seat Titan Sports Complex, which finally opened on campus this season after a decade of delays and broken promises, could lessen his pessimism.

“It gets to the point where it has nothing to do with wins and losses, it has to do with people,” said Murphy, whose Titan record is 58-83-1. “When you have players who don’t eat and you’re committing NCAA violations by feeding players who don’t eat for a week, then it’s time to take a stand and let someone else take the lead.

“I’ve seen a decrease in commitment to the sport. We’re not giving the guys the opportunity to be successful. It gets so frustrating and so old, it’s just not fair. Maybe this will help us get it better.”

Murphy said the opportunity to grasp “the golden handshake” only expedited the inevitable. “I was gone at the end of the season,” he said. But he insisted he won’t approach the rest of this season like a lame-duck coach.

“I’ll demand just as much from my players and coaches,” he said. “We’re going to get after it.”

Shumard said he “didn’t have the foggiest idea” of Murphy’s intentions until he met with the coach Wednesday afternoon, and most athletic department employees weren’t informed of the decision Thursday. Murphy told his players after practice Thursday.

“It’s a shock--it comes as a complete surprise,” Titan baseball Coach Augie Garrido said. “He’s made tremendous contributions to Cal State Fullerton and he’s a great coach. He’s been through the best of times and some rough times and maintained his sense of loyalty and class throughout.”

But the constant, uphill battle, especially in the last three years, took its toll.

“He seemed frustrated with the environment,” Garrido said. “He lived in a precarious environment. It’s difficult to plan for the future, and that creates tremendous feelings of insecurity.”

Titan players didn’t show much emotion when Murphy broke the news.

“We were surprised, but we knew something was going to happen eventually,” sophomore running back Reggie Carter said. “There wasn’t too much of a reaction, I guess. He’s been under a lot of pressure lately. He didn’t say that but I assumed.”

Murphy said he was surprised at how little emotion he felt while addressing his team, but his speech after practice said a lot about how the program has changed over the years.

Once a haven for standout players such as Mark Collins, Jim Thornton, Damon Allen and A.J. Jenkins, the program now consists of some 47 walk-ons and an abundance of community college players, who only stay with the team for two years.

“I almost started to choke up when I told the team,” Murphy said. “Then I realized I didn’t recognize half the faces, so I said the hell with it.”

Murphy had job offers at Oregon State and Utah after the memorable 1984 season but turned them down to pursue a “big-time” job at Missouri. He finished second and remained a Titan, but the program began to deteriorate thereafter.

The school began scheduling large guarantee games at places such as Louisiana State, Florida, Auburn and Georgia in order to generate revenue to keep other sports afloat. Football took a whopping, $330,000 budget cut after 1989 and was almost dropped after 1990.

The sport was in limbo for nine days until Gordon saved it, but almost an entire recruiting class was lost. The budget was cut again this year because of state financial problems and the school’s commitment to Title IX, which caused the athletic department to funnel more money to women’s sports.

While costs continue to rise, annual Titan football expenditures have remained at about $1.2 million since 1987, meaning Fullerton is getting less and less for its money.

“I’ve invested a lot of years and two sons (Tim and Mike) in this university--my blood’s in this place,” Murphy said. “I’m proud to be associated with Cal State Fullerton, but I may have overstayed my welcome.”

Despite all the problems, Murphy said he has always enjoyed the relationships with the players and coaches, regardless of their talents and the team’s record.

“The fun part has always been leaving the Titan Football House every day and stepping onto the field,” Murphy said. “The phones don’t ring, and you do what you’re supposed to do--coach football, no matter how good or bad they are. The hard part has been coming back.”

After this season, Murphy won’t have to worry that anymore.