Murray Warmath: Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Class of 2006

Warmath coached the Gophers football team for 18 years.

October 17, 2019 at 7:47PM
October 28, 1959 Coach Murray Warmath John Croft, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Murray Warmath, shown in 1959, coached the Gophers football team to two Big Ten titles and two Rose Bowls. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Murray Warmath, who played college football at the University of Tennessee, was an assistant coach at Tennessee and the U.S. Military Academy and the head coach at Mississippi State for two seasons before becoming the coach for the University of Minnesota.

He coached the Gophers from 1954 to 1971, leading the Gophers to two Big Ten titles and their only appearances in the Rose Bowl (in 1961 and 1962).

Warmath was the first University of Minnesota coach to recruit African-American athletes. Among athletes Warmath recruited in the late 1950s and early 1960s were Bobby Bell, Aaron Brown, Carl Eller and Sandy Stephens,

Following the 1971 season, Warmath became an assistant to the athletic director at the University. He held that position until 1978. He then was an assistant coach and a regional scout for the Minnesota Vikings.

Murray Warmath

Class: 2006.

Sport: Football.

Teams: Gophers, Minnesota Vikings.

about the writer

Joel Rippel

News Assistant

Joel Rippel writes about sports for the Star Tribune.

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